Arranged
by Varmint
Summary: The Inuzuka Clan owed a huge debt to the Nara Clan. And after an unforgiveable blunder on the Inuzuka's part, the Nara Elders decide to cash in on said debt. Unfortunately, their settlement winds up affecting quite a few lives. Especially those of Shikaku Nara and Kiba Inuzuka, for they are forced to marry. Rare pairing! (Because I refuse to be normal) Major AU! Kiba/Shikaku.
1. Chapter 1

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba. _(There will most probably be others eventually. Still don't know who, though.)_

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Domestic abuse, in a way. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. So the usual when it comes to my stories. Oh! And _huge_ rare pairing. If none of these are your usual cup o' tea, the back button is usually placed on the upper left corner of one's screen. If, even with this information, you choose to read, you cannot blame me for you not liking the story. I gave warnings.

~..~..~..

"But ma! I don't want to-"

The boy's cry of desperation was cut off immediately by a loud growl from his mother. The woman's snarl was almost feral, paired with an angered and bordering on frenzied glare.

"There's nothing I can do about this, child! The Clan Elders have decided! And once the Elders decide on something- no matter how unfair or heartbreaking their decision may be- it cannot be changed!"

Even with the finality in the woman's voice, the boy was still her son. And this meant that he had the same fire burning within his eyes, the same defiance bursting its way through his very essence.

"I don't want to leave my home!" He yelled back, the shaking of his head making the wild mane he called hair begin to snap out as if to portray his anger, "I don't wanna be forced to move away and marry some old-"

"Bite your tongue before you insult the head of the Nara Clan and his family, Kiba!" His mother interrupted with yet another snarl, dark eyes burning in a manner similar to her son's.

The Inuzuka had always been rather passionate individuals. The clan was filled with hot headed and brash members that had an innate sense inside of themselves to be loyal yet demanding of those that belonged to their clan. Even though they had managed to create quite the cohesive unit of clan members, having so many hotheads in the same place wasn't necessarily a good thing. Especially when it came down to the Clan Head and her family.

Even though Hana Inuzuka was one of the quietest members of her Clan, she was still outspoken and sure of her actions. Even with a slight streak of stubbornness, she managed to follow her mother's word without too much hassle and barely ever spoke back. Kiba Inuzuka, on the other hand, was a carbon copy of his mother. Same wild hair, same feral eyes, and same indomitable spirit. He was a bit more reserved than his mother and didn't give in to his anger as quickly, but he still allowed his emotions to overwhelm him easily. He was still a teenager, after all.

"I don't care if I insult that old geezer, ma!" The sixteen year old shouted back at his mother, right hand swiping at the air, "He's twice my age! There's no way in hell I'm going to marry him!"

Tsume Inuzuka sneered at her son's actions, then kicked the chair she had previously sat in- she had gotten up the very minute Kiba had- right at her son's face. "Insolent brat!" She growled as she balled her hands up into fists, the claws of a headache beginning to wrap around her. "Once the Elders decide on something, no matter how much you bitch and moan about it, it will not change!"

Her son, of course, dodged the makeshift projectile without much difficulty and crouched down into his fighting stance, prepared for the fight that would undoubtedly break out between both brash individuals.

Tsume had always known her son was too much like her to have a proper argument with. They were too alike to ever come together on opposing views. The only foreseeable outcome to them disagreeing was a fight.

"But why does it have to be _me_?" The teen snarled, hands flexing. "I am not a female! I am not supposed to marry the male Clan Head!"

"Do you think I gain any joy from seeing my youngest taken away by clan politics?" Tsume shouted back, shaking her head wildly. "You are my son, Kiba! But when a Clan we owe a debt to asks to be repaid, our Council of Elders has to think in the best interest of the clan!"

Kiba's growls became even more vicious upon listening to his mother's response, "Why should my life be taken away to repay a debt that was made years before I was even born? This ain't my price to pay! Why should I lose my life to-"

The boy's impassioned speech was cut off by a sudden slam, effectively surprising both him and his mother enough to make them jump and forget about their argument. The two angered Inuzuka turned to the source of the noise, only to find Tsume's daughter, Hana, glaring at her younger brother.

The Inuzuka Clan Head's kitchen had never been orderly. It was built for efficiency, not style. The wooden walls weren't decorated and only served the purpose of holding a roof over the family's heads. And the appliances found within were, for normal civilians, rather high end and had cost quite some money. But for a normal Clan's income, the appliances had cost almost nothing. Just like the furniture, such as the chair that had sailed over the table and across the room to shatter against the wall.

Now Hana stood in the doorway into the rest of the home, glaring at both of her family members. The wall had splintered beneath her fist.

"You are not being sentenced to death, little brother." The young woman spoke calmly, face stern and eyes grim. "You will not be alone for you are friends with the Clan Head's son, Shikamaru. You will not be stripped of your Shinobi rank. And you will be allowed to visit your home whenever you wish. You _have_ to stop being so over dramatic."

Her words were spoken with full severity and did not hold a single ounce of sympathy.

Kiba was not surprised by this. While he and his mother were overly passionate, his sister had always been able to keep calm in every stressful situation she had ever been placed in. Heck, she was sometimes even able to detach herself emotionally from what was happening... Maybe that's why she seemed so calm now. Because she had decided to keep herself at arm's length from the mortifying situation Kiba found himself in.

But that didn't _matter_. As his sister, Hana was supposed to be backing him up!

"But sis! I'm being forced to marry a man that is older than me by two decades!" Kiba yelled at his sister, straightening up slightly even though his body was still tensed and prepared to launch in case of any attack. "Can't you two see the two things that are wrong with that sentence?" He growled, frustration building up within him as the women continued to glare at him. "If you don't, then I'll make it clear!" He shouted, sneering at them both, "Forced to marry an old man! Do you see now-"

He would have continued shouting if not for Tsume suddenly launching herself at him and punching him clear across the jaw, effectively shutting him up.

"We are not blind, you young fool! Now go to your room and stay there until I don't feel like ripping you apart limb from limb!" The woman roared in pure rage, eyes inflamed and face twisted into a horrid sneer.

Neither Kiba nor Hana had ever seen their mother so angered.

But the boy was much too hurt and taken aback by the sudden hit to be in awe of it... Or scared of it. Instead he was more hurt by the hit to his face and the threat to his life.

And in a very uncharacteristic move for an Inuzuka, instead of yelling back at Tsume and continuing the argument, Kiba turned around and bolted from the kitchen and straight to his room, trying to ignore the frustrated tears that began to spring up in his eyes.

In his escape, he missed the tears that filled his own mother's enraged eyes. But even if he had seen them... He would have ignored them.

For the first time in his whole life, Kiba actually found himself despising his Inuzuka roots. And hating his mother.

* * *

"This isn't right. This is a child."

Shikaku Nara's face was grim as he looked at the Council of Elders sat before him. He was not a fan of the most recent choice taken without him having been consulted. And he wanted his Elders to know this. "When I told you I wished to marry a man, to try and find love in my life, I did not mean for you to force a male to marry me. Especially not the Inuzuka Clan's heir."

His anger was expertly restrained, but it still bubbled up violently within him. Normally, he was a rather relaxed individual that chose to look at the logical, if a tiny bit optimistic, side of things whenever possible. But he couldn't just go with the flow on this issue. He couldn't force a chunin into a loveless marriage. And he wouldn't stand for clan politics to force a teenager to bend over backwards. And just because of someone else's sick whims.

"Shikaku, please," One of the female elders tried to speak up, but the man only glared at her.

"The loss of Yoshino was a devastating blow for all of us. I understand the need for the Clan Head to have a significant other, but you cannot possibly believe that there is a need to replace her so soon. Especially with an Inuzuka." He spoke calmly, yet his words were thick with emotion, "It is not right to force a child into marriage. And you are abusing of your power as clan elders by even thinking of doing this."

"It was the Inuzuka's fault that we lost Yoshino!" One of the male elders spoke up haughtily, "And their clan has owed us a debt for years now. By giving the eldest son's hand in marriage to you, Shikaku, they are repaying both these debts."

"Besides, Shikaku, you admitted to us in confidence that you were of an alternate sexual persuasion. Instead of asking you take another wife, we are merely asking you to take a husband. We thought you would be proud you would not be forced into another marriage where there would be no possibility of you ever falling in love." A kinder woman spoke, dark eyes soft as she hoped to quell his rising anger. "This boy, Kiba, was the best for the agreement that was being made."

"You should be happy you're not being forced into marriage with Tsume or her daughter." A crude, male voice spoke up then, causing Shikaku to scoff and just barely restrain an eye roll. "At least we know that the boy has a marginally more restrained temperament than either of those two."

"That is far beyond the point, elders." Shikaku shook his head, "This boy was my son's classmate in the academy. I have known him since he could barely even throw a kunai. It is not right."

"We need a partner for you. The Inuzuka clan owed us a deep debt. And the Inuzuka clan elders have already agreed with our plans." The last of the female elders spoke with a voice of finality, "Through this marriage not only do we kill two birds with one stone, but we also form a deeper alliance with their clan. No fight shall break out between a Nara and an Inuzuka while the Clan Head is married to the Clan Heir."

Then, the last male, the oldest of all the people in the room, looked at Shikaku with a heavy frown. "You know how difficult clan politics are and how heart wrenching decisions can sometimes be. Of all the different outcomes to be made, this was the one that would cause the least amount of strife."

Sighing heavily, Shikaku closed his eyes and rubbed at the lids. "What other sadistic and twisted plans did you come up with when around the Inuzuka elders?" He asked tiredly, body suddenly feeling extremely heavy.

The six elders looked at one another for a moment, then the eldest woman cleared her throat to grab his attention. "Let us just say that by accepting this fate, you have allowed young Shikamaru to marry whoever he should choose."

Immediately alarmed at the mention of his son, Shikaku pried, "You mean to tell me you would have dragged my son through your political mud? You would have sunk so low as to take away two children's freedom?"

Once more the eldest man spoke up, "Unlike you, your son has shown, no matter how reluctant, interest in the other sex. He would have been promised to Hana Inuzuka... And that was the initial plan, if I may tell you the truth. But this would not have been extremely beneficial in uniting our clans. Even though Shikamaru is your heir, Hana is not the heir to the Inuzuka's. And she has made her reluctance to ever be the head more than clear. While powerful, this union would not have been as impacting as the one between you and Kiba Inuzuka."

With a frown, Shikaku growled, "You just wanted to have the satisfaction that comes from having two Clan Heads married to each other. Isn't it enough to have the run of one clan? Must you butt your head into another?"

"That has nothing to do with this, Shikaku! Tsume shall remain the Clan Head until she relinquishes her duties or dies in the battlefield. And, by the way things are going, we shall never see the day come."

"Have you even thought of the sense of danger this could cause among the village? The Inuzuka and Nara are powerful clans. Seeing them unite in this manner might cause unrest and displeasure among the civilians." Shikaku continued to argue, wishing to fight until the very end to see if there was any way to change the elders' minds.

"Not if we give this partnership the correct twist." The woman that had first spoken up smiled at the distraught man, "A union of love and peace... One that would promise prosperity for the village... Sounds rather beautiful, doesn't it?"

"But there is no love!" He finally shouted out, exasperated with the circles he was being forced into.

"And the village does not need to know!" The youngest of the males countered, then shook his head. "Shikaku, please, stop trying to argue. We have already made our choice. You shall marry Kiba Inuzuka. There is no point to any further discussions."

Even with the words that spoke of no room for arguments, Shikaku still wanted to contest. He still wanted to argue. If not for his sake, then for Kiba's.

He could not, knowing the pain of being forced into marriage, oblige a teenager to take part in such a thing. His marriage with Yoshino had not been picturesque, nor had it been filled with romantic love, but after years, they had managed to find an amicable partnership while living in the same home. But they had not been afforded the right to love another human being. And while he was old and had lived long enough, he didn't want to make someone so young live through what he had.

"But, elders, please-" He was down to pleading, something Shikaku Nara _never_ did.

But if logic didn't work, then maybe pleading would.

"But nothing, Shikaku!" The six elder's voices rang out, voices echoing throughout the room and stopping Shikaku's words. "We have decided. Leave the council room!"

There was no further room to argue. They were clear on their choice. Nothing Shikaku could say would ever change their minds.

He and Kiba would be forced to marry. There was no more he could do.

With a desolate frown pulling at his face and shoulders weighed down heavily, Shikaku walked out of the council room without saying another word. He would have to accept these terms given to him... No matter how little he actually wished to.

~..~..~..

Guess who's still alive and creating random, rare ships!? That's right, _this girl!_

This idea came to me a while ago. I've had this story floating in my files for quite a few months now, actually... But I decided to begin and post it because if I didn't do so now, it'd never see the light of day.

I hope you all liked it! And hope you're also ready for an extremely slow burn story with a bunch of twists, turns, dashes of angst and happiness, and a huge amount of awkwardness. Oh, and Clan politics I'm coming up with on the fly. And Clan behavior I am also creating for _all_ of the clans. Oh! And a _major AU._ Like, _freaking major AU_. A lot of things are different. Although a lot of things are the same. You'll be able to see the full scale of the changes created by the time the story's been completed. So, just bear with me, yeah?

Please remember to review! And for anybody waiting on any of my other stories: _I'm working on those too!_


	2. Chapter 2

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Domestic abuse, in a way. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics (mostly Inuzuka related). Power imbalance. And trying to become a missing-nin.

~..~..~..

Kiba had fallen asleep with frustrated, angered, and saddened tears falling from his eyes. He had not changed clothes and had not drank any medication for the pain that would eventually hit him because of Tsume's power packed punch. Although he had managed to have fallen into an, oddly enough, dreamless sleep that had left him just a bit more rested than the night before. But this wasn't really saying much, seeing how it had only lasted for a good two hours.

When he next woke up, the Inuzuka did so with a groan of pain while moving his heavy and sticky arms. He moved slowly as he got up from his bed, but noticed once he had sat up that he had not been on his bed. Even though he had slept comfortably, he had done so on the floor. And when he looked back at what he lied on, he found that, at some point during the night, he had fallen asleep on Akamaru.

As soon as Kiba looked at him, the large dog perked up and looked up at the human, his dark eyes wide and alert.

"Hey, boy." Kiba spoke softly as he tried to move his jaw as little as he could, all the while raising his right hand to feel at the bruised and tender flesh. "How did you sleep?"

With a soft whine, the dog moved his large body so he was curled around Kiba, with his head on the boy's lap. The way in which he moved reminded Kiba of how the dog would move back when he was a mere pup and wanted to comfort Kiba. Back then, he usually had curled up in a ball in Kiba's lap, offering whatever warmth he could with his small body. Now, though, he wrapped himself around the boy to do this exact same thing. To give him warmth and comfort.

Now was when Kiba noticed that Akamaru had not been present for the argument between he and his mother. Instead, he had stayed inside of the teen's room, away from the danger zone. But with his canine sense of hearing, he had undoubtedly heard everything that had been shouted out. And he had, without a doubt in Kiba's mind, heard the attack that had finally silenced him.

"You heard, didn't you? How I'm supposed to go and marry Shikamaru's dad?" Kiba asked softly, knowing rather well just how keen the canine's in the house ears were. And if any of them were to hear him, they would undoubtedly tell Tsume all about anything odd said in the nonexistent safety of his own room. "And you heard how ma and sis don't care... How could they not care, Akamaru? I don't get it."

With a soft keen, the dog nuzzled his head against Kiba's side, trying to offer him as much comfort as he could.

And Kiba was touched with the care that his dog was offering him. But he still felt incredibly sore- both physically and mentally- from what had just happened to him a few hours ago.

His mother and sister had both argued in defense of the Nara clan. They hadn't even tried to lie to Kiba and told him he would be fine.

For once, Kiba wished the Inuzuka clan wasn't as honest and blunt as they were. Because, for once in his life, he just wanted to be lied to and told that things would be fine, even though he knew they wouldn't be. He just wanted someone to tell him that this was a problem that was easily fixed. He longed for someone to tell him that he wouldn't have to give his life because of a debt from decades ago.

Tears stung at his eyes once more, even though Kiba growled softly in frustration as he tried to keep them from spilling. He refused to cry anymore because of the situation. He was an Inuzuka! He didn't cry!

Although... He wouldn't be much of an Inuzuka anymore... Not if he was to truly wed into the Nara clan.

The boy's mood darkened as he thought of the Nara and the man he was supposed to marry. It couldn't have even been a woman? Must it really have been _Shikaku_ Nara? The head of the clan? Shikamaru's _father_?

There was no greater insult to a member of the Inuzuka Clan's pride than to force him to submit. To anything. It didn't matter if it was in the matters of the heart or in the battlefield, submission wasn't something any individual from their clan would ever accept without a true fight. Especially when it was the male heir of the clan that was supposed to be doing all of the submitting.

Because, undoubtedly, he would be forced to be the wife in the situation. Shikaku was older, wiser, and the head of his clan. Kiba was a mere chunin that happened to be the heir of his own. Out of the two, the one to be subjugated would be him.

A shiver of pure disgust ran up his spine at the idea of being forced into anything by Shikamaru's seemingly kind father.

The man hadn't been a big part of his childhood. Heck, Kiba had most probably only really spoken to him once in his sixteen years of being alive. And that had been when he had been forced to explain to the man that he had to go into his lands to catch a willy Akamaru. And that had been years ago. Kiba had been twelve, at _most_ , and Akamaru had still been a puppy. After that, he'd had no need to talk to the man.

Back then, Shikaku had given Kiba the impression of being a calm and kind man, albeit almost as lazy and grumpy as his son.

... Maybe he had been wrong to believe that. Maybe Shikaku Nara managed to hide all kinds of dark intentions behind that lazy and kind façade. Maybe he had been the one that had asked for Kiba's hand in marriage. Or, worse yet, maybe he had been the one to give the clan elders the idea and then insist on it.

With a groan, Kiba raised his hand to cover his face and shook his head.

His thoughts weren't helping him at all.

Shikaku Nara. Shikamaru's father. Head of the Nara Clan. Kiba's soon to be husband.

One of those didn't sound right to the youth. And there wasn't a big surprise as to why.

He couldn't truly understand just why he was the one that was to give away his life for a marriage. Did it really have to be an Inuzuka? If it really had to, couldn't it have been anyone older? He was only sixteen! Even though he may shout and scream about how mature he actually was whenever something didn't go his way… He was no idiot. He knew that he was still a kid. And it was unfair that being just a kid, he would be forced to marry someone so much older than himself.

This whole situation was just messed up. And thinking about it certainly wasn't going to help him.

His own clan wanted to marry him off to a man twenty years his elder. And they expected him to follow their rules like a good little soldier.

This would be their greatest mistake.

There was no way he would just roll over and be sold off like some animal. He was worth more than that. And he refused to be married off just because the Elders believed their word was absolute.

This _debt_ they alluded to... Kiba didn't even know what it entailed. No one within the clan other than the Elders and his mother knew exactly what it consisted of. And those that knew about it refused to speak about it. All that Kiba knew with certainty was that this was debt created years ago, back before Konoha had even been founded, and that it was strong enough to transcend generations.

Konoha... He loved his home. He loved his clan. And if they had asked any other thing from him, Kiba would have gladly accepted it. Anything but _this_. He could not marry Shikamaru's father. And it didn't matter that this was one of his duties as the Clan Heir. He refused to go through with such a thing.

He was _not_ some bitch to sell off to a man. Said man's importance in the village didn't matter. Kiba was not some prize to be won or bought.

The fact that he had always been more open to relationship with both sexes didn't cross his mind at any point. Not because he deemed it unimportant. Instead it never came to him because this was an insult to him as a person and warrior. When someone married into a clan, they were usually in the submissive role. One did not go into a marriage like this expecting to not be treated as an equal. And there was no way in hell Kiba would ever submit to anyone.

"Akamaru, pack your things."

The decision was impulsive. But it was also the best thing he could do if he wanted to avoid everything that was going to happen to him if he stayed.

The large dog whined softly but didn't move to stop Kiba. Instead the large canine lumbered over to his favorite corner in Kiba's room and picked up his favorite toy between his teeth, then pushed his favorite book towards the center of the room with his snout.

Even though not many expected this from the dog, he could read. All of the dogs under Tsume's care knew how to do so. And Akamaru especially loved reading a story that Kiba remembered his father reading to him years ago... Before he'd abandoned the clan... Just like Kiba was about to do.

It seemed that the apple truly didn't fall far from the tree.

~/~

He stayed within his room the whole day. Akamaru would venture outside to bring food in for the both of them and Kiba would sometimes leave to go into the bathroom, but they both moved quickly so as to not be seen by any of the members of the Inuzuka household.

Kiba didn't want to look at any of his supposed family members. He knew that if he did, he'd start a fight he would lose. And then his plans of escape would be dashed away.

Tonight would be the only time he'd actually be able to escape. Nobody would expect Kiba to escape on the night after having heard the news, they would expect him to continue fighting against the decision taken. Only after he stopped fighting the decision would the Elders begin to distrust of him.

After he'd accepted the stalwart nature of the decision, Kiba knew it would only be a matter of time before he was forced to be supervised at all times. He was Kiba Inuzuka, after all. And if there was one truth to him, it was that he would much rather die before he had to submit to another human being. The Elders would know this and not trust him to stay still and just accept their proposition after they'd made it clear. If they were intelligent, they would know he was capable of dashing off into the sunset or doing something drastic just to avoid this whole mess.

After this night, they'd know that he would be likely to try and bolt further along the line... Sure, he could continue arguing and hope. And there might be a lack of surveillance for a bit of time. But that was a flimsy chance at best. He couldn't run the risk of lax security. So tonight was his only chance to leave.

It wasn't a good feeling... The sudden weight dragging his heart down. He felt guilty for leaving his whole life behind because of _one_ decision. But this one decision would create major change in his life... And he refused to be anyone's bitch.

Kiba Inuzuka did _not_ submit.

So he would simply run away.

* * *

"A heavy heart can tear a whole soul apart..." Shikaku breathed out into the stifling silence of his office, eyes closed as he kept his arms crossed over his chest.

He wasn't sure where he had read this saying... Maybe he'd actually _heard_ it, not read it. But that didn't matter. Because it was the only thing he could truly think about at the moment.

His Elders were adamant about marriage to his son's friend. They weren't going to let go of this ludicrous idea anytime soon. And he doubted that they ever would.

Arranged marriages were not anything new when it came to the Nara Clan. Shikaku's first marriage had been orchestrated to ensure the happiness of all of the Council Members of the moment. And when he'd had Shikamaru, Shikaku had known that he would finally be able to rest and not have to worry about the Elders trying to force him into anything else. This had been because he'd given them everything they had wanted, both marriage to a proper kunoichi and a male heir, but at least Shikaku could tell himself that he no longer owed them a single thing.

After having given _years_ of his life to both his clan and raising his son, Shikaku had hoped he would finally be allowed out from beneath the Elders' thumbs. But he had been wrong to believe this. And they had come up with quite the despicable plan.

If he found this disgusting... He didn't even want to _imagine_ what Tsume was feeling. Especially because it undoubtedly meant quite a bit of property damage.

He didn't know Kiba Inuzuka. This was just a boy Shikamaru would hang out with sometimes. They were friends, but not close. Mere acquaintances if their relationship was brought down to the bare bones. There was no real reason for Shikaku to know him. Yet he'd have to marry him...

Back when he'd first been told he would have to marry Yoshino, Shikaku had entertained the thought of running away. He'd thought of leaving on the very night that he had been informed, actually. But he hadn't. Partly because of a heavy feeling of loyalty to his clan, partially because he had just wanted to make his father happy, but mostly because he hadn't wanted to go through the trouble of being a missing-nin.

Running away wasn't really an option for shinobi. If they left, they betrayed their village. And that made them risks. They would be hunted down to ensure the safety of their homes. This meant that if he had left, then he would have been hunted down for the rest of his life. And that had just seemed like too much work for him.

But... It may not seem like too much work for a certain hyperactive Inuzuka.

Members of the Inuzuka Clan were deeply loyal to their home. But they were known to crack under extreme duress. Cases of members of this clan's members abandoning Konoha were the smallest of all of the mayor clans. But they existed. And one of them was extremely close to Kiba.

If his father had left Konoha, what was to stop the teenager from thinking that he couldn't?

Sighing out heavily, Shikaku called for a courier to come into his office. And as he waited for him to arrive, he wrote a simple message in the scroll he would hand to the shinobi.

As he wrote, he couldn't help but wonder about what Kiba must be thinking at this very moment.

Only a few hours had passed since he had heard the news, so he could deduct that Kiba had known for at least the same amount of time as him. Which meant that, if he was anything like what Shikaku was assuming, he might be trying to escape tonight.

The thoughts that would lead him to running away weren't overly pleasant. Mostly because Shikaku worried that Kiba thought that he had somehow set this all up.

He _never_ would force anyone to marry him. But Kiba didn't know this. He just knew that he was now to marry the Head of the Nara Clan, with or without giving his consent. Shikaku wouldn't put it past him to think that he'd been the one to ask for his hand.

With a heavy frown pulling at his lips, Shikaku looked up just as the courier he had sent for knocked on his door. He called the woman to come in and handed her the scroll, giving her strict instructions to find Asuma Sarutobi and hand that scroll over without any incident.

The red haired woman gave one stiff nod- for a moment, Shikaku thought on the outright irony that he was using an Inuzuka courier to relay his message- and quickly left, her canine partner nowhere to be seen.

After the woman was gone, Shikaku closed his eyes and crossed his arms once more, returning to his thoughts once again.

He trusted Asuma. Out of all the shinobi in the village at the moment, he was the only man outside of his old squad that Shikaku trusted with his life. They'd been through quite a few misadventures together and had grown strong from facing adversity. Shikaku liked to think of the younger male like the brother his parents had never been able to have at times. And Shikamaru saw the man like another uncle.

Maybe it would have been better to send for Kurenai. The woman would know how to deal with her student and get him to calm down... But Shikaku didn't trust her with something as crucial as Clan happenings. She was a good woman, Asuma loved her for a reason. But she wasn't from a Clan. So she wouldn't understand this mess like the Sarutobi would.

With a subtle nod to himself, Shikaku breathed in deeply, counted to ten, and opened his eyes.

He would have to prepare himself for the explanation he would have to give.

* * *

Traveling under the cover of night had never been difficult for Kiba. Even though some of his friends had found difficulty in allowing the wind to guide their motions, Kiba had always felt like one with nature. He'd never found it difficult to move through trees, something he attributed to his Inuzuka heritage.

Because of this, it had been easy for Kiba to make his way out of his home and reach the outer edges of the forest that surrounded the Inuzuka Compound. After that, it had been an easy trip of just putting one foot in front of the other and doing his best to not think too much on his actions.

The moon was obscured by thick clouds and the scent of rain was heavy in the air. Kiba knew for a fact that it would begin to rain in a few hours, drizzling over Konoha to leave a wonderful scent of freshly dewed dirt. It was a shame he wouldn't be around to experience that wonderful smell one last time. But he needed to leave. So he refused to think too long on what he would be leaving behind.

It was supposed to have been a simple escape. Kiba could see himself crossing the Land of Fire's border before day even broke. But then a new yet known scent suddenly filled his nose. And his plans plummeted.

In less than a minute, Kiba found someone blocking his escape. Someone that he only knew because of Team 10's training.

For a few seconds, no one moved. Kiba stood and glared on top of a sturdy branch of a thick tree, all the while Akamaru stayed back a few feet. And the man before him just crossed his arms over his broad chest, keeping his mouth closed and his dark eyes trained on Kiba's own.

"Outta my way, Asuma Sensei!" The teen finally shouted, frowning at the adult, "I'm leaving and I'm never coming back."

He had thought that he wouldn't really face any kind of opposition leaving Konoha. He'd hoped he'd be right in thinking this. His sister was at work and his mother was busy kissing up to the Elders' asses. The rest of his clan was asleep at this hour, just like most of Konoha should be. So there shouldn't have been anyone around to try and stop him.

He felt pretty bad for leaving Shino and Hinata behind without so much as a note explaining the situation, but he had to leave. He couldn't hope for the best in this situation. He'd have to take his decisions into his own hands and never look back. Because the Elders certainly weren't about to notice how unfair they were being with this marriage.

"Sounds rather reckless, don't you think?"

Kiba frowned at the almost nonchalant tone the man in front of him used, then shook his head and motioned for Akamaru to follow him.

"You wouldn't understand. I don't even know what you're doing all the way out here, dude. Normal people use this time to sleep." The Inuzuka grunted out before making to jump onto a branch parallel to the one he stood on, hoping to move past Team 10's teacher.

But just as he was about to jump, the man jumped onto the branch he'd wanted to jump onto and cut off his escape. Much to Kiba's chagrin, the man was much taller than himself. Which was a bit of noticed information that was only added to the fact that he was a Jounin; two things that made Kiba feel outclassed and trapped.

Just like he would be trapped if he went through with this ridiculous marriage.

"I was going somewhere." The teenager snarled even as he took one step back and closer to the tree's trunk.

Akamaru didn't move at all. Instead he just sat at his branch, waiting for a direct command from Kiba. And even though it kind of annoyed the teen that the dog was not moving to help him, it made him feel somewhat at ease. If Akamaru wasn't rushing to protect him, it meant that Asuma wasn't a danger. At the moment.

"You are aware that if you leave the village now, you'll be hunted down as a missing-nin?" Asuma asked almost conversationally, which only managed to annoy the Inuzuka.

Did the man even know why it was that he wanted to leave? Because if he didn't, he had no right to try and keep him inside of the village!

"I am aware." The boy managed to speak even with how harshly he was grinding his teeth, "Akamaru and I were going somewhere before you decided to interrupt us. And while you may think you're stopping me from committing a huge mistake, you'd actually be forcing me into one if you made me stay."

With this said, Kiba motioned to Akamaru with his hand once more. Then he slowly moved his right hand into his pocket, feeling around for the smoke bombs inside. He didn't care that Asuma was trying to be a good ninja by keeping him inside of the village. He wasn't going to stay. And he was sure that if he caught the man off guard, he and Akamaru would be fast enough to be able to get away from him without too much hassle. He was sure that they were that fast.

He just hoped a fight didn't break out. He wasn't sure if he'd even pose the jerk before him a threat.

"You'll be making one by running away from your duties, Inuzuka."

The words made Kiba freeze for a second. But then he shook them off, for they meant nothing. The man was just talking about his duties to his clan and how he would be abandoning them by leaving the village. He wasn't talking about anything in specific.

"Lord Nara sent me."

All of the breath left Kiba's body when Asuma said this. Then he stumbled back into the large tree's trunk, resting his back against it to stop from collapsing.

"I know what's going on, kid." The man continued, even though Kiba didn't look him in the eyes anymore. Instead the Inuzuka looked down at his hands... When had they begun to clutch his pants? And why were they holding on so tightly? "Lord Nara filled me in on the situation before he sent me out here to stop you from leaving the village."

It was rather hard to breathe. Shikaku had known he'd be leaving tonight? _How_? Kiba had only received word of this marriage last night. There was no way someone could have been able to foresee him packing up and leaving so quickly... Even his own clan hadn't thought he was going to try to leave so soon after finding out!

"He would have come here himself, but-"

"He was too busy thanking his Elders to come himself?" The Inuzuka interrupted in a snarl, looking up to glare at the man before him in anger. "I don't give a damn what he wants or thinks. I'm leaving. I'm not about to become some slave to anyone. Let alone to Shikamaru's father!"

He was able to move away from Asuma this time around. But he only made it a few feet before the man had caught up to him and grabbed him by the left wrist, effectively stopping him from running off if he didn't want his arm wrenched out of its socket.

"Let me go!"

"Kurenai did tell me you were difficult..." The man sounded as if he was lamenting this fact, but Kiba didn't care. He needed to leave. He couldn't just stay here to be given away to some crusty old guy. He needed to fight. "I just didn't think you'd be this bad... I think you can give that Naruto kid a run for his money."

"I don't care! I'm not staying-" Kiba shouted as he tried to wrench his arm away from the man's grip, only for it to tighten up.

"Lord Nara thought you might just be a tiny bit uncooperative. So he asked me to tell you two very important things."

"I'm not listening!" The Inuzuka growled once more, using his right hand to try and pry the man's hand off of his wrist. "Let me go!"

For a moment, all that Kiba could hear was himself trying to pry Asuma off. The man didn't really do anything other than just hold him there, which infuriated him to no end. This would be less annoying if the man at least acted as if Kiba's putting up a struggle was giving him some trouble. But he just stood there, unmoving like a stone.

Just when the teenager was beginning to think of using his teeth to find results, he heard the man speak up once more.

"You are much more difficult than I thought you would have been." The man relented for a moment, then shook Kiba roughly for a moment before stopping.

It caught the boy completely by surprise. It was such a rudimentary tactic that the boy never would have even thought that the man would try it. He was so caught off guard by it, actually, that once it was over, Kiba only stared at him in confusion. He did not try to run away immediately and instead stayed there, as if waiting for an explanation. "I have a bet for you. If you win, I'll let you go. It'll be as if I had never even seen you. You can run away to wherever you want and I won't say anything about our meeting."

The man had shook him. He'd manhandled him. But he hadn't gone any farther than that. He'd just... Continued to talk.

Who did that?

Asuma had just shown dominance by effectively ceasing his struggles. Why had he not capitalized and manhandled him back into the village? What kind of an idiot did someone have to be to not take complete control of the situation once it was shown to be in his reach?

Shaking his head softly to clear it of these thoughts, Kiba mulled over the man's proposition. A bet of sorts. In which, if he won, he'd be able to leave.

"What's the catch?" The teen quickly questioned, "There's always a catch in this sort of thing."

At this, Asuma nodded softly as he released Kiba's arm. The teen immediately snatched it back and began to rub at where he'd been grasped tightly as he tried to soothe ache in his bones. "The catch, as you so eloquently put it, would be what you'd have to do if I win."

Immediately Kiba frowned. But he allowed the man to continue.

When he was sure that the Inuzuka would not interrupt him, Asuma explained himself, "First of all, you'd have to stay in the village. Not just tonight, but for the rest of this whole marriage business." The man's voice took on a much more serious tone, losing any ease it might have held. "You can't just run away from your Clan because you don't agree with one decision they've made. It's your obligation as Clan Heir to do as you are told. And it's unbelievably childish of you to think that you can just run away when you don't like something."

The insult to him was quite clear. And Kiba immediately bristled upon hearing it, "You're not the one being married-"

"You really aren't good with authority, kid." Asuma raised his voice higher than Kiba's, effectively shutting him up with a glare. "As I was saying, if I win you stay here. And tomorrow morning you and I will go meet with Shikaku. He's got a few things to tell you himself."

Kiba frowned heavily once Asuma had finished speaking. He didn't like Asuma. No matter how well Team 10 spoke of the guy, he was a jerk. Just like everyone else in Konoha, apparently. Was it really so irrational of him to not want to be forced into a marriage?

But even with how serious Asuma now looked, without even a shred of his usual nonchalance around him, Kiba didn't take him completely seriously. The man may be above him in rank and age, but the teenager did not like being talked down to. And that was exactly what he felt like the man was doing.

"Were those the two 'very important things' he wanted you to tell me?" The teen's voice was just an inch away from being mocking, but it seemed that the man didn't mind. Instead his body relaxed by a fraction and he nodded.

"Actually, yeah. 'Stay here and meet me tomorrow'. That's what he wanted you to know."

Kiba looked away from Asuma at this point and towards Akamaru. The dog had not moved at all since he had last seen him. But at least his body was rigid and tense, with his eyes on him and Asuma. If shit went down, Kiba was sure Akamaru would help and try to bail him out.

"I'm still going to try to leave."

"Just take the bet, Inuzuka. Maybe you'll actually win."

The teen crossed his arms over his chest as he scoffed, then looked back at the man. "What's stopping me from leaving right now?"

The man chuckled humorlessly at Kiba then jabbed his thumb at himself without saying a single thing. Kiba didn't need him to say anything, really, because he understood. And it meant that if he truly tried to run away, Asuma's offer at a bet wouldn't stand. He'd be forced to stay in Konoha. It was a lose-lose situation and there was no way of escaping.

Just like this marriage...

But maybe... Maybe he stood a chance at this bet. And if he won, he'd be free. He could leave, just like he wanted to.

"Alright..." The Inuzuka sighed, "What's the challenge?"

"Beat me at a spar."

~..~..~

Long chapter is long! I hope you all like this length, because it's how long I'm thinking of keeping the chapters. Not too short. But not as long as I know I can sometimes go. Although maybe a tad bit shorter, this one _did_ get away from me by a little bit.

I hope you all enjoyed this! Thank you so much for the trust you've already placed in this story (if I can assume you've put some trust in it from the follows and faves), for I was worried this rare pair would be just too weird! Apparently, it's weird enough. And please remember to review, for that is my life blood.


	3. Chapter 3

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Quick A/N: I couldn't actually find a name for Ino's mom other than 'Ino's mom' or 'Inoichi's wife'. So I named her Yasuko. I'm going off what she looks like in the anime and the feel I got for her character. But because there's so little of her to find, I'm pretty freaking sure this counts as an OC. But she isn't. Not intentionally, anyway.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Domestic abuse, in a way. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics (mostly Inuzuka related). Power imbalance. And trying to become a missing-nin.

~..~..~..

Kiba got his ass handed to him by Asuma. And in the worst way possible.

Their match had begun in a clearing that had been only a few feet away from the spot where they had stood during their confrontation. And Asuma had allowed Akamaru to help Kiba out, even though it hadn't been of much use. The Jounin had steam rolled through them with such ease that it had left Kiba with hate burning deep in his heart. There was some admiration hidden beneath all of that, for any Inuzuka could admit when they had been beaten, even though they refused to voice it out loud. But Kiba didn't really want to think about how strong the man was and instead focused on the hate held for him for being forced to stay in the village.

All that he had wanted was to be able to leave the Clan that had forsaken him. He just wanted to be able to run away and never look back at the family that would keep another Clan happy instead of its own children. And he wanted to have the freedom to be able to love whoever it was that intrigued him, not just a man that was thrust upon him.

"You got quite the left hook, kid."

Asuma's words were somewhat mumbled and Kiba couldn't help but feel pride begin to swell his heart.

Throughout the fight, Asuma had kept his distance with his (pretty cool even though the Inuzuka refused to admit it) fire attacks. And Akamaru and Kiba had been forced back through the threat of getting badly burnt. But at one point, Kiba was able to fake his way through Asuma's defenses and landed an extremely solid hit on his jaw, much like the one his own mother had landed on him.

It was because he'd gotten so close that Asuma had been able to catch his left hand and twisted it sharply so it was forced outwards, all the while he propelled his body forward. Kiba had crashed into the ground below with an unbelievably heavy Asuma threatening to break his arm. And with tears of pain threatening to spill, the teenager waited a whole ten seconds before he called out his loss.

Ten seconds. Much more than enough time to be able to break Kiba's arm. But Asuma had waited expectantly, knowing full well that the Inuzuka would eventually give up.

Kiba despised the fact that Asuma had beaten him with only a handful of moves. But he at least now had a brand new goal to chase: learning so much about fighting that he'd never be beaten by Asuma again.

He would have to truly up his training if he wanted to get anywhere near the Jounin's level.

Even though he wanted to comment on the fact that it seemed that Asuma's jaw would begin to bruise like Kiba's own, the Inuzuka remained quiet. Instead he focused on the road they were walking down, one he knew from his races around Konoha, but not because there was anything there for him to look forward to.

This was the Shinobi Area of the village. Many ninja chose to live in these apartment complexes out of a need for likeminded people or plain old comfort of knowing that no one would be able to kill them while they slept in a complex with twenty or thirty other capable ninja.

He knew that Kurenai Sensei lived in this area, much like Asuma. But he wasn't really all that excited to see his teacher, not after what he'd done.

Honestly, he still wanted to escape. But he'd given his word. And if Inuzuka were anything, they were true to their word. He was stuck in Konoha for the rest of his life. And he'd end up marrying Shikaku Nara. No matter what.

... Life _sucked_.

* * *

Explaining the situation to Inoichi had been much easier than what Shikaku had expected. He had worried that telling his best friend about marriage to a teenager would be an awkward experience. Especially considering how this teenager happened to have his own relationships with each of their children.

It had been extremely awkward. And Inoichi had seemed about ready to scold Shikaku for possibly thinking that being wed to a teen seemed like a good idea to the Nara. But once he'd explained to the Yamanaka just why it was that he would be marrying a teenager, the man had understood and even sympathized with him.

Out of all the clans in Konoha, the Yamanaka held the Elders with a reputation of being the kindest and most lenient. But even with that reputation, they could be just as dangerous as any of the others. And his best friend had almost been dealt the same fate as Shikaku in their younger years. Luckily, though, the man had met his current wife a few months before negotiations were set to begin with one of the lesser clans and his Council of Elders had accepted the woman easily enough.

After he had allowed Inoichi to know just about everything that he had been told by his Clan Elders, Shikaku asked the man just what he should do. Not just to make Kiba become a tiny bit more understanding of his own position, but about the whole situation.

It had been one thing to marry Yoshino, a woman he had gotten along with before they had been thrust together. But it was a completely different thing to come into yet another forced marriage, but this time with a partner that was completely unwilling. And so extremely young.

Out of the two, Shikaku had always been the one credited with the genius brain. And he wasn't about to undermine his intelligence and sense of perception. But Inoichi had one thing over him that Shikaku didn't even _try_ and compete with: Understanding of human emotions.

Shikaku was able to read others, map out their emotions and deduce what their actions would be. He was great at planning ahead and being able to tell what someone would do if placed in any given situation. This didn't come with understanding, though. Shikaku was a somewhat emotionally stunted male that wasn't truly able to understand just _why_ people did the things they did. He was just about to deduce what they would do out of an understanding of patterns. His mind was purely scientific. Inoichi's, though, was the exact opposite. Which had been one of the reasons why they had been able to become such good friends.

Immediately, the man had begun to analyze Kiba's own mind set. And he began to tell Shikaku about how betrayed he must have felt, how he would undoubtedly think that this was Shikaku's doing, and what he believed would be the right thing to do: Talk with him.

"Only through talking can you two properly communicate."

It was extremely obvious that this was the only way they'd be able to communicate. Shikaku highly doubted that the Inuzuka had learned any sign language. And, even if he had, he most probably had very little patience for having conversations through this kind of communication. Instead of telling Inoichi that he was just saying things that were obvious, the Nara had just nodded along and allowed his friend to run his mouth.

Eventually, the Yamanaka had come to the conclusion that Shikaku and Kiba should meet in a neutral location so they would be able to talk things out. And, from this idea came the conclusion that they would have this neutral meeting in the Yamanaka run flower shop, which happened to be Inoichi's family home. And it would take place in the man's office, which was found inside of the second floor of the building.

Shikaku understood that the Yamanaka home would seem like a good, albeit not totally trustworthy spot to the Inuzuka. It wouldn't be as if he were stepping into Nara land, which might be taken as him stepping into Shikaku's domain. But because it would be in the Yamanaka grounds, the teenager would not have to see this as Shikaku trying to intimidate or dominate him.

It was already nearing midnight and Shikaku's eyes were being pulled down heavily by the force of tiredness, but his mind was abuzz with thoughts and worries. Even after a day of trying to focus on his duties as Jounin Commander, all that plagued him dealt with the marriage he would now be forced into.

If everything had gone according to plan, then Asuma had been able to talk Kiba out of running away. And they would be going to the Yamanaka shop for breakfast, just like Shikaku had asked Asuma to do.

Even though Kiba wouldn't be too comfortable with any of the things that were happening, Shikaku was more than aware of what choices he made would be the least likely to end up in failure. Which is why he had asked Asuma to put Kiba up for the night, to not let him go back to his Clan's compound. Even if he had planned everything out perfectly, there was still the possibility that Kiba could try and run even after he'd lost the bet put forth by Asuma. It was highly unlikely for an Inuzuka to break his word and tarnish his honor, but it could still happen. So the boy should now be in Asuma's apartment, which ensured that the Jounin would put a stop to any kind of escape attempts.

It didn't feel right to keep Kiba inside of the village for this wedding. There was actually a part of Shikaku that told him to let the teen go and get away from the pain that would come from following his Clan's orders without refusing. But he could not allow the Inuzuka to do something so foolish. Not when he knew the horrible and arduous fate that awaited all that renounced their village.

In the present, the boy would hate Shikaku with every fiber of his being. But maybe, in the future, he would see that this was a better life than the alternative. He wasn't prepared to live a life on the run. And if he ran, he may just regret not having gone through with this marriage.

~/~

"Is everything to your liking, old friend?"

When Inoichi stepped into a room, it was as if the sun itself entered. The man just had an aura about him that radiated warmth and kindness. In his younger years, Shikaku had been somewhat smitten with him. But it had never grown to be more than just some silly, schoolyard crush.

As was expected of him, Inoichi entered his office with enthusiasm and lit it up. Which has a hard feat in itself, seeing how this office had clearly been decorated for the man itself, as sunny and warm as Inoichi was known to be.

"I believe the question should be if it is to your liking, Yamanaka." The Nara allowed a small smile to grace his face as Inoichi rolled his eyes at him. But soon he composed his features and spoke up, "You have no idea how grateful I am to you, Inoichi. You didn't have to do this, yet you're sticking your neck out for me. Thank you."

"Think nothing of it." The blonde waved Shikaku's words off, moving around his office to make sure all of his flowers were as perfect as they could be, "What are good friends for, after all? If I cannot help with this mess you have gotten into, I would not be much of a friend."

For a moment, Shikaku had to stifle his irritation at the words. "I would not be in this mess if it weren't for my Elders, Inoichi. You know extremely well that I would never have gotten myself into such a situation like this on my own terms."

"Oh, I'm aware, Shikaku." Now that all of the flowers had been checked on, Inoichi moved to the tea table at the corner of the room, only to begin to accommodate the cushions below. "I just can't believe your Elders would stoop so low... Did it not matter to them that this boy is Shikamaru's age?"

Even though they were at Inoichi's office, Shikaku had asked the man to set the table. He did not want to use the large desk Inoichi usually worked on. It would be seen as too much of a separation between him and Kiba.

Like in any other work setting, the large chair at one end of the desk meant power while the smaller chair on the other side meant none. If they used the desk, there would be an imbalance of power between him and Kiba. And even though this wouldn't seem too big to many, Shikaku had been around the Inuzuka Clan long enough to know that power roles were extremely important to them.

At the tea table, sitting on same levels although on opposite sides, they would be equals. Which was something Shikaku wanted to make clear as soon as possible.

"Their first scheme was to force Shikamaru and Hana to marry." The Nara admitted as he crossed his arms over his chest, then he leaned against the large mahogany desk in the near back of the room. "But they decided that it would not make enough waves. Hana is not a Clan Heir... Maybe if she had been, I wouldn't be in this predicament..."

Even as he said this, Shikaku knew that this would have been the route the Elders would have taken if only Hana had not renounced the title of Heir. They may have said differently, but all those old geezers wanted was power and control. Who might get hurt in the process of acquiring it did not matter as long as they had it. It was a sad truth, but it was a practice used time and time again for a reason: it garnered results. No matter how unfair it may have seemed, results were always attained by brushing off other's fortunes.

The blonde male clicked his tongue as he softly shook his head. Then he stood up from the floor and walked over to his friend and placed his hands on the man's shoulders.

"You're doing the right thing by talking with the kid. At least this way he'll know the truth of his situation and won't have to completely hate his life."

Shikaku smiled softly at the semi-encouraging words, "Thank you, Inoichi... I had no idea that a future with me could have been that unbearable."

"Just only slightly unbearable, Nara." Inoichi winked, then clapped the man on the shoulders before he turned around. "When he strolls up, I'll send him in... Should I ask Asuma to stick around, or...?" He allowed the question to fall, allowing Shikaku to think about his answer.

He had not wanted to force his son's teacher into the position he was in now. But the woman he would have liked to be his messenger, Kurenai Yuuhi, wasn't an appropriate choice. After her, Shikaku had not known anybody that Kiba respected enough to listen to. Much less anyone that should know about the secret engagement the Nara and Inuzuka Clans had prepared. So, by default, Asuma had been the only shinobi he could think of for this.

Luckily for him, Asuma took his job seriously. And upon getting a direct order from the Jounin Commander to keep quiet about this mission, there was no doubt in the Nara's mind that the younger male would not say a single word to those that did not need to know.

It was just a shame that he had been forced to deal with an undoubtedly difficult Inuzuka for a night.

"Do you think Yasuko would mind cooking something up specially for him? I told him you would offer breakfast."

"Putting words in my mouth?" Inoichi twisted his head to look back at him for a second, then nodded. "She's already got the sausage cooking. You know how much Yasuko enjoys having him over. She can actually beat him at shōgi."

Shikaku chuckled softly at this, "Only because he allows her to win."

"Takes a gentleman, Shikaku." The blonde opened the office's door to walk out, "Takes a gentleman."

The Nara watched the Yamanaka leave with a soft smile on his face. But once the door closed, he sighed softly and frowned, then glanced over at the tea table. There were yunomi set on the table, ready to be used. Yasuko would bring in some tea to pour once Kiba and Shikaku had eaten the light breakfast she had prepared.

"Only a few more minutes..." The man muttered to himself, then made himself a bit more comfortable by shifting his legs as he continued to lean on the desk.

He hadn't gotten much sleep the past night. And his eyes were heavy because of this, but his mind was much too energetic to allow him even a split second of rest. So the man, instead of growing frustrated with his lack of rest, allowed his mind to continue running at an unbelievable speed.

This was not the ideal situation. But Shikaku could work with it. And he would for both his and Kiba's sakes.

* * *

He had been over at the Yamanaka shop a handful of times before.

One time, he'd had to pick up some flowers for his cousin that was in the hospital after having been an idiot on a mission. Another had been when he was helping Ino, Sakura, and Hinata plan... Something. He still wasn't completely sure what that had been. A sleepover of sorts, maybe? The girls had been giggling and looked happy so he hadn't gotten too involved. He risked pissing them off if he said the wrong thing. Not with Hinata of course, but with the other two harpies. So he'd just kept his mouth shut as they'd squealed and giggled over flower arrangements and stuff.

When Asuma had told him that he'd be meeting with Shikaku, Kiba had completely expected to be taken to either the man's office or the Nara compound. He had never even thought that the Yamanaka residence was even an option in the whole scheme. Because Shikaku was a man with more than enough power, the Inuzuka had been convinced that he'd show it off as quickly as possible.

In all honesty, it was somewhat comforting to be meeting in what could be seen as a kind of neutral place. Not by too much, of course, because he was the only person that would be in that place that had no other reason to go there other than for this one situation. Everyone else around him had more than just _one_ reason to walk into this shop. But at least it wasn't a place where Shikaku ruled completely.

When they entered the flower shop, Asuma held the door open and allowed Kiba and Akamaru to step in before following. Their entrance was announced with the soft ringing of a bell on the door frame and Akamaru growled softly. This made Kiba smile softly and pat the dog on the head.

Upon noticing Asuma's questioning look, Kiba shrugged softly, "Akamaru doesn't like bells."

The man seemed somewhat amused with the answer. But Kiba just looked away from him, beginning to feel himself begin to worry about the position he was currently in.

Without a doubt, his family would have figured out about him having left at this point. He should have gone back to his Clan after having lost to Asuma- spectacularly, at that; he really ended up with no winning chances against the man even if he had Akamaru by his side. But instead of going back home, he had done as Asuma had insisted. He'd followed the man to his apartment and spent the night there under lock and key.

Even if he had thought about leaving after losing the bet, he would not have been able to flee. This insulted the Inuzuka, he wasn't the kind to break his word, but he didn't say anything about it. He didn't have to make this situation any worse by opening his big mouth. Partially because it was hopeless to even try and speak anymore, but mostly because he _had_ contemplated on breaking his word.

There was a tightness in his chest that had begun to strangle him even as he'd tried to sleep. It made it hard to breathe, and even though Akamaru was there as a comforting presence, Kiba was finding it hard to find any kind of solace.

How had Shikaku known that he'd try to leave? And why would he want to have any kind of conversation now, without the Inuzuka Clan knowing about it?

Now that he thought about this... Did the Nara Clan even know about this? About how Shikaku had been able to predict his movements and how he had just about demanded Kiba to come meet with him?

Was this right? Was he supposed to be meeting with Shikaku? Did his Elders have any plans as to how their introductions were supposed to go? They must have, no Elders did anything this big without a good bit of showmanship... Would they be pissed by this meeting?

"This is all just one big mess..." The teenager whispered out in dismay, making Akamaru keen softly and lap at his hands, all the while Asuma moved away from him and over to the counter at the back of the shop.

"You said something, kid?"

Asuma craned his neck just slightly to look back at Kiba, but the teenager looked away and over to one of the flowers on display. "Nothing."

For a moment, Kiba heard nothing. Asuma didn't move, nor did he or Akamaru. The teen guessed it was because Asuma continued to look at him, maybe even contemplated about asking Kiba to actually give an honest answer. But then Kiba heard the sound of hinges squeaking as a door opened, then a female voice spoke up and broke through the tense silence that had fallen over them.

"Oh, Asuma! Kiba! And you brought your dog too! Shiromaru, right?"

The woman's voice was warm and light, which was very different to the kind Kiba was used to. His clan didn't do warm and light. Their tones were always either clipped, excited, jaded, or pissed off.

Her guess at Akamaru's name made Kiba smile softly, "Akamaru, actually."

The dog barked and his tail began to wag, then Kiba took note of the delicious smells coming into the shop now that the woman had stepped inside. He looked away from the flowers and over to where Asuma stood, only to find that the woman had come in through a barely noticeable door by the counter. She had light brown hair, kind eyes, and wore an apron with a flower print on it.

"Akamaru." She repeated, then smiled softly at him, "Well, don't be strangers. Come on in. Inoichi told me I would be having guests so I prepared some breakfast for you two."

Under any normal situation, Kiba knew his stomach would have growled loudly to demand food. But seeing how it was currently twisted into a thousand knots, all the teen could do was wonder if he could even eat a bite.

Still he followed warily after the woman, and Asuma followed him a few seconds after.

~..~..~

Hope you all enjoyed this! Please remember to review and tell me what you think!

Next up will be the great meeting between Shikaku and Kiba!


	4. Chapter 4

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Domestic abuse, in a way. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics (mostly Inuzuka related). Power imbalance. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes).

~..~..~..

Just as Shikaku had expected, only a few minutes after Inoichi had left him alone in his office, the blonde came back to announce the arrival of Asuma, Kiba, and Akamaru.

"The kid looks horrible." Inoichi breathed out with a shake of his head, "He's got bags under his eyes and looks like he's ready to keel over... I doubt he's gotten much sleep recently."

Inoichi's tone was soft yet troubled. It would undoubtedly shock a few how the man could be so caring over someone he barely knew, but Shikaku was used to this... _ability_ of his by now. After years of knowing the Yamanaka, he had gotten to marginally understand his friend's overly sympathetic ways. He did not share in the emotional connections the blonde was able to make so quickly... But he could at least tell when his friend became attached easily.

It seemed that this would be yet another of those moments...

"I would not be surprised to hear that." The Nara admitted, "If the Inuzuka were their usual _charming_ ," The word was breathed out and dripped sarcasm, for Shikaku was more than aware of how terribly uncouth the Inuzuka were prone to be, "selves when it came to telling him about this union, there will be a lot I will need to clear up."

Inoichi's frown was deep as he looked over the tea table, the corners of his lips turned down into a thoughtful frown. Shikaku allowed his friend to truly form his thoughts and waited patiently, more than aware that Inoichi would speak up once he was ready.

"Could... Do you think..." The blonde breathed out in slight annoyance, then looked at Shikaku with worry swimming deep within his blue eyes. "Is there any chance that he might think that _you_ were the one to ask for his hand in marriage?"

It was a provocative thought. And, if the people that had informed Kiba of his predicament had used absolutely no tact, it may just be reality. But Shikaku liked to believe that he didn't seem like a despicable enough person to do such a thing. So he held hope that Kiba did _not_ think this. Although he did not ignore the chance that the teenager _might_.

"There might be..." He answered after a pause to think, then quirked an eyebrow over at his friend, "Why do you ask?"

Inoichi glanced back at the doorway of his office for a moment, then answered, "He just looks so troubled... I'm so used to seeing him running around Konoha with a large smile on his face that it just worries me. Even Akamaru looks as sombre as a ghost."

"That's..." Shikaku narrowed his eyes as he thought about the information, "Not good at all."

"I know." Inoichi agreed, then shook his head softly, "Yasuko is serving up their breakfast now."

"Thank you. Please send him in once he's finished eating."

After Shikaku asked this of him, Inoichi nodded and stepped away, leaving the Nara to his thoughts once more.

He truly hoped that Kiba didn't think that he had been the one to come up with the arranged marriage... But he also could not be foolish enough to think that there was no way the kid had thought about it.

It was much too early to be dealing with such troublesome thoughts... And he had barely managed to sleep at all, which meant that he really wasn't in the best mood at the moment. But Shikaku knew it was only a matter of time before the Inuzuka Clan noticed their missing heir. And if he wanted to keep the kid from getting into too much trouble, they would have to have their conversation as soon as possible. Not only for that, but also to clear the air between them quickly. He couldn't have Kiba thinking things that were wrong throughout the whole venture.

If there was one thing he had learned while married to Yoshino, it was that marriages, fake or not, would not survive if there was distrust between the partners.

Not more than a few minutes passed before Inoichi was stepping inside the office again. But this time his face was pulled down by an even heavier frown and his eyes held quite the conflict within them now, rather than just worry.

"He barely touched his food... When Yasuko wasn't looking, he gave it all to Akamaru."

Shikaku had to stop himself from smiling fondly at the worry that was radiating off of Inoichi, "Maybe he didn't like it and didn't want to hurt your wife's feelings."

The possible explanation made Inoichi glare at his friend, "What kind of teenage boy gives away food, no matter how bad? Especially if they haven't eaten anything since before they woke up?"

Shikaku breathed in and closed his eyes for a second, then nodded, "He must be even more affected than I thought..."

"You have to make him feel better, Shikaku. It isn't right to see him like this... I don't even know the kid and I know there's something off with him." Inoichi looked around the room once more, eyes scanning details to make sure nothing was out of its place, then nodded to himself and moved to walk out of the room again. "I'll start on the tea to bring you two. And I'll have Yasuko prepare something more so he can eat once you're done... Hopefully, he'll feel good enough to eat by then..."

The last bit was muttered more than spoken out loud, most probably as a thought that wasn't meant to be listened to, just thought aloud.

Shikaku allowed a small smile of amusement at his friend's mother hen ways before he schooled his features once more and waited for Kiba to arrive.

Once the teenager did, he could admit that he understood why Inoichi was so worried. The kid looked bad. Not as bad as Inoichi had made it sound, but bad enough to get someone to worry. He had bags under his eyes and... Was that a bruise on his jaw? Where had he gotten that from?

As far as he knew, the Inuzuka had not been sent out on any missions recently. He'd been kept inside of the village, just like the rest of his team, because of rather obvious reasons. His clan, along with the Aburame and Hyuga, had been the one targeted by those that had killed Yoshino. But he hadn't seen any fighting... Maybe a training accident?

Even though he had not spent much time around Kiba, Shikaku knew what was a usual look for the Inuzuka Clan. Wild and unkempt looks were just about a norm for them. Ragged and torn clothes didn't matter. So seeing that Kiba looked a bit gruffer than the usual teenager did not raise any suspicions. But his eyes... The Inuzuka had the most expressive eyes out of any of the Clans Shikaku had gotten to know.

The Inuzuka, much like everybody else, were not completely alike. Some members were prone to anger while others, to happiness. Very few were close to Kiba in pure, unadulterated hyperactivity, but Shikaku had known one or two that fit the bill of what he knew of the boy. In their eyes, he'd only ever seen joy and life. In Kiba's though... There were so many emotions, it was almost impossible to pick one as the most abundant.

"Kiba." The older male nodded easily as he used a slow and calmed tone, hoping to calm some of the clashing emotions in the boy.

"Lord Nara."

The disdain and anger that permeated the name did not surprise the man at all. But, in a way, they annoyed him. These emotions had no right to be directed at him. At the Elders of his Clan? Without a doubt. But not him. He too was a victim in this ploy.

Shikaku had to stop the long suffered sigh his instincts begged him to release. He should not show any kind of annoyance if he didn't want to Kiba to become any more angered. Dealing with Inuzuka for as long as he had, it taught people. And one thing the Inuzuka didn't like was insufferable tip-toing around issues. Instead of sighing, the man breathed in and tried to soften his features even further to not be seen as a threat or someone worth hating.

Now the teenager crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from Shikaku, over at the window behind the desk in the office. But instead of his face becoming any smoother, it only showed off his anger even more.

Was this really how the boy wanted to play? He looked and acted just like a petulant teenager being forced to be polite. Which, in retrospect, was exactly what was happening with the kid.

"There is no point in dancing around the issue. Shall we get down to business?"

A flash of defiance passed through Kiba's features for a moment. And in that moment, Shikaku wondered if the teen would argue against sitting down to speak about what would be happening with their lives now that they had been arranged to marry. But the defiance in his eyes happened to just be a flash. It was there one second, but gone the next, only leaving behind a type of hollowness in the boy's eyes Shikaku could not explain.

With a tense nod, Kiba entered Inoichi's office and began to look around. Shikaku followed in slowly, taking note of how the teenager glared over at the large desk by the back, then cleared his throat to grab his attention.

"Please, sit."

* * *

Kiba arched an eyebrow at Shikaku's gentle words as he gestured towards the tea table set up by the corner. Then his eyes shifted over to the perfectly good desk at the back of the room and stamped down the urge to purse his lips, "Wouldn't it be better to discuss all of this with that?"

The Nara didn't even look at the desk as he made his way towards one of the cushions on the floor, "Not at all. Inoichi did promise to bring us tea, after all."

The man made himself comfortable at the tea table but Kiba couldn't help but stare like he'd lost his mind.

Why weren't they using the desk? A man as professional as the Head of the Nara Clan shouldn't be having such important discussions over tea. This... It just didn't fit.

"Kiba, please come sit down;" Shikaku pressed, motioning for the cushions across from him.

The teen looked down at the green pieces and couldn't help the slight sneer his lips curled into.

Just what kind of game was this man trying to play? Because it wasn't funny! And Kiba wanted to growl and shout this at the man, see if he could force him to understand like his family hadn't.

Kiba wanted to stay standing. Not only because it helped him keep _some_ semblance of control over his position in the room, but also because concentrating on his balance felt like the only thing keeping him from throwing up... To think, this old man wanted to force someone who was _his son's age_ into marriage.

Hell, he wanted to bolt and never even have to talk to this dirty scumbag. He just wanted to run away and never look back...

Unfortunately, even he knew that it would do no good to disobey the man. Just like running away wasn't an option anymore. Whatever he did now, word would undoubtedly get back to his mother. And if the past night's punch had been bad, he could only imagine what she'd do once she found out about Kiba's actions.

The reminder of the fight that had transpired between him and her caused the teen to wince slightly. And the bruise that had blossomed into a myriad of green, blue, and yellow along his jaw began to pulse and ache much more than he'd first gotten punched- a violent reminder of a horrible night. From the way Shikaku's eyes narrowed slightly, Kiba guessed that his wince had not gone unnoticed. But the teenager could not bring himself to care.

There was no way to get around any of this.

With his shoulders slumped, the teen meandered his way over to the table. Once he sat down and made himself comfortable on the cushions across from the other man, there was a knock at the door. A few seconds passed and then it opened to reveal Inoichi carrying a tray as he walked inside.

How could Shikaku possibly think that now was a good time for tea? Hadn't trying to shovel food down his throat not been enough for the man? It was a shame that he hadn't been able to eat a single bite, really, because the food had smelled delicious. But his stomach was so twisted he knew there was no way he'd be able to keep anything down. Just like now, he was sure there was no way he'd be able to drink.

Once the blond-haired man set the tray down on the table, he tried to offer Kiba a comforting smile. Kiba felt guilty for the frown he returned, which in turn made the blonde's eyes narrow and his smile fall, but all the teen did was cross his arms and look away. Inoichi's heart may be in the right place... But it was in the wrong place if he was trying to warm Kiba up to the Nara in the room.

Silence reigned over the three of them as Inoichi served both Shikaku and Kiba their tea, only broken by the soft clinking of ceramic against ceramic. Kiba looked down at the cup set down in front of him with uncertainty, wondering if he should even try to drink just to act polite or if the risk wasn't even worth taking.

Suppressing the heavy breath he wanted to release, the teen looked up to find Inoichi and Shikaku looking at each other. The blonde was glaring just slightly, as if giving some kind of warning without having to use any words. And the Nara merely rolled his eyes, looking every bit like a slightly exasperated Shikamaru dealing with Ino.

In a moment of humor, it was interesting to see how alike the parents' interaction was when compared to their children's. But that flash of humor soon left him once Inoichi turned around and silently left, leaving him alone with Shikaku to be able to have their conversation without any prying ears around.

Once more they were plunged into silence, only interrupted when Shikaku picked his cup up to take a drink from it. Kiba turned back to look into his own drink, face pulled in with discomfort. He really didn't want to be in here. Not with this man. Not under these circumstances... He didn't want to be anywhere near this guy.

"Kiba," Hearing his name made the boy just about jump a foot into the sky before he collected himself and looked over at Shikaku, trying to keep his heart from racing too wildly. "Will you tell me what you're thinking?" The man asked softly, irking Kiba with how caring he sounded.

This man actually wanted Kiba to think he cared about him in any way? Did he actually have the audacity to try and play _that_ game after everything he'd done? This marriage, not letting him leave, making him actually speak face to face... This guy had no shame, did he?

"Fine! What the hell, man?"

The shout wasn't what Kiba wanted to use. He had meant to keep his tone at least marginally civil, just to not have to worry about Shikaku ratting him out to his Elders for being a disrespectful little shit to his future husband. But he just... He couldn't control himself. He was tired, hungry, angry, nauseous, and in pain. And this guy actually wanted them to talk?

Forget Asuma, Kiba _despised_ Shikaku to no end.

"First, you decide you want to marry me without my permission. Then, you keep me from leaving the damn village by sending Asuma Sensei after me. And as if that wasn't enough, he wouldn't even let me just go home!" Kiba seethed, sneering in a way that he barely ever had. "No, I had to stay in his apartment all night! Like some untrustworthy prisoner! None of this is alright! You can't just make decisions for me without my damn permission!" Kiba shouted, chest heaving in exertion.

Shikaku listened calmly, and Kiba couldn't stand to see that composed face of his. How could he be so relaxed? And why hasn't he even reacting to Kiba? He had shouted in the guy's face, insulted him right to the face. But he didn't get angry. No, the jerk just sat there, sipping calmly at his tea.

"Kiba," The man began as he set his tea down, "I understand your frustration-"

"Bullshit!"

Kiba had never been so angry before. He'd never hated anyone so much. But the jerk didn't get riled up. He only narrowed his eyes marginally down at his drink before he glanced up at Kiba with a stern look, but not an angered one.

"-But I was not the one who asked for your hand in marriage." He continued as if he hadn't been interrupted and did not allow for Kiba to cut in again. "I honestly didn't even consider you as a contender for who I would be matched with. The Elders of both Clans decided it would be best to betroth us."

"You're a guy. And in case you haven't noticed, so am I." Kiba hissed, hands grasping onto the edges of the table to keep himself from doing anything even dumber than disrespecting the Head of the Nara Clan.

"I'm gay. My council is aware of this." Shikaku answered bluntly, but didn't even sound marginally annoyed. He sounded more tired than anything, if that made any sense. "And, as you are more than aware, the Inuzuka Clan's own standards of love are unlike that of any other Clan."

Kiba's eyes narrowed immediately and his jaw locked for a second. It took all of his willpower to not jump over the table and maul the bastard's face off. Instead, he forced himself to relax and actually say _something_. "So you just assumed I'd be okay with marrying a guy just 'cause my Clan's different?" In a burst of anger, he unlatched his fingers from the table and slammed his palms down onto the solid surface, causing his untouched tea to rumbled precariously. "You're sick!"

His last words seemed to strike a chord within Shikaku. His completely relaxed demeanor tensed up and his eyes shifted just a bit. Even as childish as it may have been, Kiba found some satisfaction in finally seeing the man react.

"Kiba... Do you honestly believe I would want your hand in marriage?" Shikaku's tone was darker than it had been before, but was still much too composed for Kiba's liking. "If my own wants had been taken into consideration, I would not even be getting married."

A heavy silence settled over them suddenly.

This news... Was not what Kiba had been expecting. And taking one quick whiff of the air around him let the boy know that Shikaku was either an excellent liar or being completely honest right now.

"Wait... So..." At this point, after hearing this admission, most of Kiba's anger was replaced by curiosity. "You're being _forced_ to marry me?"

"Did you think you were the only one, Kiba?"

The moment of severity seemed to end as soon as Shikaku allowed himself a sad smile. Kiba's curiosity and worry were once again changed into anger and irritation. The corner of the teen's lips pulled back in a snarl and his hands tightened around the wood of the tea table once again, body tensing up in anger.

"You son of a-"

"And if it hadn't been us, it would have been Hana and Shikamaru." Shikaku continued quickly, "I'm sure you don't want your sister stuck in a loveless marriage. They believed that by uniting us, it would repay the debt that your Clan owed. I am sorry that they involved you in this, but I will protect my son. No matter what." The man interrupted Kiba's insult hurriedly, for once not sounding as slow and relaxed as a regular Nara.

Hearing Hana's name dragged into the situation drove a spike of fear through Kiba. But the pissed off teen quickly stamped that down, reminding himself how she, along with their mother, had thrown him to the wolves without a single care. Sure, they acted like they held some semblance of love for him. But if they had truly cared, they would have done everything possible to keep this marriage from becoming official. And they _hadn't_.

The fact that he was sitting here now, talking to Shikaku about these things, proved that they hadn't cared enough.

He glared at the Nara for having tried to use this argument, trying to tell himself that he didn't care if his sister had been the one to endure this arrangement. She had not cared. She hadn't comforted him and told him everything would be fine. She'd just told him to suck it up... He wouldn't care at all if she was the one to be forced to do this, the teen tried to make himself believe.

"I could have run." The teen snarled, then breathed in to try and calm himself a bit before he wound up leaving deep scratches in the table. "But you sicced Asuma Sensei on me. Goddammit, man, I could have been in another village by now if you hadn't stopped me!"

Instead of explaining himself, Shikaku just quirked an eyebrow and kept silent.

Straining his fingers to keep himself from doing anything drastic- hurling himself across the table and scratching that annoying smug look off the man's face was just too tempting, no matter how much Kiba tried to stamp those thoughts down- Kiba growled. "How did you even know I was going to leave?"

"Do you really think that you are that unpredictable to me?" Shikaku half smiled, but looked more amused than before.

"Just great. That doesn't make me worry that you've got some weird attraction to me or something..." The Inuzuka whispered in chagrin, then forced his hands away from the table and crossed his arms over his chest, feeling much smaller than he ever had. "What about what I want?" Tears stung at his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. "Don't I get a say in any of this?"

"Unfortunately, this is a lesson you had to learn sooner or later. And the answer is no, not as a Clan Heir nor as a Clan Head." When Shikaku spoke up, he didn't sound amused. He sounded worried. And that made Kiba's frustration bubble up once more. He hated how sincere the man sounded... He hated the fact that he was trying to make this whole situation bearable. How was he supposed to hate someone that tried to comfort him? The bastard had done more than his own family to try and get him to understand... At least he hadn't punched him...

"You don't get to have the final say in your own life. Not for who you marry, not for whom your Clan allies itself with. You'll find that the Clans are all run by politics, and you need to know when to fight back and when to accept. This is one of those times that you just need to accept."

"That's bullshit!" Once more Kiba slammed his hands against the table, causing further liquid from his cup to spill out, "Why do I have to lie down and accept this? You're as old as my mom!"

Shikaku frowned at his shout, "Would you rather have your sister suffer this fate? But not with someone she knows- someone that lives far away, nowhere near Fire Country. Because if you don't accept this and flee like a coward; which, if I'm being honest, would have gotten you a few miles away from Konoha _at most_ before you were stopped; your sister will be punished. If there is one thing Elders despise, it is being defied. And you would be doing just by leaving."

Kiba wanted to scream that he didn't give a damn about what might happen to his traitorous sister. He wanted to fool himself into believing that he wouldn't care at all if she ended up in a hopeless and sad situation. And he wanted to make Shikaku understand that as long as he was free, he didn't care what happened to her.

… But... He couldn't. He couldn't make himself believe this, no matter how much the bruise on his jaw hurt.

He _hated_ caring. Even more than he hated Asuma or Shikaku.

"Do you really want to subject your sister to that cruel punishment?"

Shikaku's voice lowered and it sounded as if... Well, Kiba couldn't place the emotion. But it made the knot in his stomach tighten even further, and the pressure in his chest became almost unbearable. Kiba felt as if it was too hard to breathe and ended up looking away from Shikaku, avoiding the eyes he knew would be condemning him for being a horrible human being.

"N-no..." He admitted softly, keeping his head down even as he inwardly scolded himself for sounding so pained. "But... How can you be so okay with getting married to me?"

* * *

Shikaku had known that even mentioning Kiba's sister would make the boy pause. And he'd hoped that he would make his point be understood quickly without much injury to the boy. Unfortunately, the pain was there. He could hear it clear in his voice. The guilt that gnawed at him was uncomfortable, but Shikaku was able to quell it by reminding himself that it was better he got through to the Inuzuka as soon as possible before he tried to do anything too drastic.

The man breathed in deeply before he answered the boy's question, "Not many know this, but this would not be the first arranged marriage I was forced into."

His closest friends and family knew. The Clan Elders did as well. But nobody aside from those that were considered important enough to know knew about Shikaku and Yoshino's true reasons to marry. Many believed that they had met by coincidence on a mission back when Shikaku had still been a Chunin and Yoshino had forced him to love her. But that was far from the truth.

"Wh-what?"

The boy's expressive brown eyes shined with unshed tears and genuine surprise. It was clear to Shikaku that all of the anger and defiance that had burned within him had been snuffed out at the very thought of his sister being forced into this very predicament. And, in a way, it disappointed Shikaku that the teen had not fought against him some more. He had truly expected a Tsume-level fight and had been left somewhat underwhelmed.

Then again, he should not be feeling so bad for this... At least he hadn't ended up having to raise his voice or worry about getting mauled. Although, if he were to judge how close Kiba had gotten to trying something like that by the marks now left on Inoichi's table, Shikaku could safely say the kid had come pretty close.

"Didn't seem like it was arranged, huh?" He asked with a small hint of curiosity shining through, a small smile now on his lips. "Shikamaru always said that Yoshino and I didn't look like the rest of the parents he knew. We always acted 'differently'. But Yoshino would always tell him we acted differently simply because we had been friends before we were a true couple."

Shikaku tried to keep his tone light, even though the issue was one that still bothered him to his very core.

So many years wasted married to Yoshino. So much time spent keeping his Clan happy, rather than trying to please himself. Now that Yoshino was gone, he had hoped to be able to live the rest of his life out making himself happy. Only to find out that he'd have to marry once more...

"Why..." Kiba's face was now schooled into one of distrust, with his eyebrows drawn in, "Why are you telling me this? You don't have to explain anything to me." His eyebrows furrowed even further, then his eyes went back to looking into his drink.

Shikaku had noticed a fad he wasn't sure how to truly categorize. Kiba didn't maintain much eye contact. He preferred to keep his eyes down on his drink or away on some other area of the room when he wasn't angry. When shouting, the teen didn't stray away from glaring straight into his eyes. But when he wasn't in the midst of heated arguing, he kept his gaze down.

None of the members of the Inuzuka Clan Shikaku had ever interacted with had ever done something like this. They all kept their eye contact steady and sure. And they never looked away when talking directly to someone. A show of dominance to prove how much respect was deserved, Tsume had once boasted.

A show of dominance... Did looking away mean a show of submission?

"I don't want you to think I have hidden intentions because I don't. And I want you to see that I do understand the way you feel. I was your age when I married Yoshino, after all." The man explained, then finished drinking from his tea. "Everything you are going through, I already wound up experiencing. Not in the exact way. But I understand."

Slowly, the Inuzuka's arms wrapped around himself. Shikaku felt bad to see the boy reacting in such a way, but he knew that the sooner he went through this pain, the sooner he would come to accept what would have to happen.

Kiba kept his head down and refused to look up. He kept his silence after Shikaku had spoken up and barely even moved. He was so still that the man began to worry about a possible sickness having grabbed him.

But just when he was about to ask if the boy was feeling alright, the teen's hands tightened on his elbows.

"Can I go now?"

Shikaku felt that it wouldn't be a good idea for the kid to leave. Not in this condition. Not without having eaten a single thing. And he hadn't even touched his tea, at that.

"Kiba..." The man breathed out, his shoulders suddenly feeling very heavy. "You should eat something."

The teen's own shoulders tensed and the skin Shikaku was able to see paled. But the teen kept his head down as he took in one shuddery breath, then he whispered out, "Okay."

There was something off with the teen. Even a blind man would be able to see that. But Shikaku knew that Kiba had closed in within himself and wasn't about to come out. No amount of prying would get the kid to speak to him.

Shikaku knew that he had said everything he wished to. He'd made his intentions and the situation as clear as possible. And what he'd wanted to discuss with Kiba, he had been able to. For that, he was glad. But he also knew that there would be no more talking now. There would only be waiting and tolerating from now on.

"Come on." He muttered softly as he stood up from the tea table, keeping his eyes on Kiba as the boy stood up and just about rushed out of the room.

The teen never looked up from the floor.

Shikaku had no idea how to take that.

~..~..~

I hope you all liked the new chapter! Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Domestic abuse, in a way. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics (mostly Inuzuka related). Power imbalance. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes).

~..~..~..

Eating had not been a pleasant ordeal.

Shikaku had not been the one to stay with him. He'd been called away by some courier for one reason or another that Kiba had not been able to care about.

Instead it had been Inoichi to stay with him, who had tried to make conversation with him, no matter how unresponsive the Inuzuka had been. Even though Kiba could barely think about anything that wasn't the way in which his life had gotten screwed over so majorly, Inoichi still had tried to get him to talk about little, inconsequential things. To say the least, the Yamanaka's venture had failed rather miserably.

If it wasn't him stuck in a shitty arranged marriage, then it would be his sister.

... No matter how much he wished to make himself believe that seeing his sister in the same situation would not hurt him, Kiba still cared for the woman that had let him down. He couldn't let his sister go through what Shikaku had told him would happen. He loved her too much to ever allow her such a bleak future.

Having a conscience _sucked_.

"I'm not really all that hungry, Lord Yamanaka..." The teen murmured softly as he pushed at the food on his plate with the chopsticks in his hand.

They were shaking minutely. Kiba was trying his best to keep them from shaking as much as they actually wanted to. But if he didn't leave right now, he was sure that the chopsticks would end up falling... And not because he would want them to.

They had been seated there for what felt like hours. In reality, it had been no more than ten minutes. But Kiba was much too caught up within his thoughts to notice just how slowly time crawled by.

"You should eat, Kiba." Inoichi's voice reminded the Inuzuka of the kind Hana would use on scared pups to get them to trust her. It was a reminder that chagrined and soured his thoughts even further.

"I should get back home." He commented as he looked up to meet Inoichi's eyes, "I've been gone for too long now." Slowly, he set his chopsticks down. Then he lowered his hands so that he could clasp them together, try and suppress the shaking.

The blonde frowned and his eyes darkened slightly, but Kiba didn't back down. He didn't have to back down to him. Inoichi wasn't the man he'd be marrying. That was Shikaku. And even though he couldn't be disrespectful to any of the Clan Heads, he also didn't have to submit to them. He was on almost level ground with them. He _refused_ to let that go.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather get something into your system? Yasuko worked hard on that meal."

Kiba looked down at the food once more and his stomach flipped in reaction. He was more than sure that he would not be able to eat it. So the teen whistled for his dog, who stood up from his spot resting by the corner of the dining room in the Yamanaka home, and walked over to him.

"It won't go to waste if Akamaru eats it, right?" He looked at the annoyed blonde for a second before he grabbed the plate- with his steadier right hand- and offered it to his best friend.

Akamaru looked up at him in a moment of contemplation and hesitation before quickly lapping up the food that had been made. The plate was left spotless, no food had been wasted. Once he was sure that Akamaru had finished eating everything, the Inuzuka stood up from the table and nodded over at the man.

His hands now found their way into his jacket's pockets, effectively stopping Inoichi from seeing them.

"I don't really think I'd be able to keep anything down right now. But the food smelled delicious." He offered, then looked away from Inoichi and towards the door that led to the stairs he would have to take to go out through the flower shop. "Thank you for your hospitality."

He bowed slightly at the Yamanaka before he set off, Akamaru following quietly after him.

Even though he hadn't turned around to have one last look of the man, Kiba was more than sure that he wore a displeased frown on his lips. The teenager, though, couldn't bring himself to worry about this. Because, even though Inoichi was a powerful man, he wasn't a man that Kiba could spare any thoughts on. Right now, all he could do was regret his whole life and try his best to plan for an undoubtedly unpleasant future.

Marriage to Shikamaru's father... It sounded like a cruel joke.

The unfortunate thing about this was that it wasn't just some elaborate prank. Nobody would pop up out of nowhere any second now to laugh at him for having fallen for this ruse. No one would come over and tell him that this was just a joke that went too far... He would have to marry Shikaku. He would have to be bound to the Nara Clan Head for the rest of his life...

Being alone wasn't a good thing. But being in the same room as one of Shikaku's greatest friends had been near impossible. Kiba didn't want to think about this anymore, even though he knew he needed to come to terms with the situation he found himself in.

Within his jacket, his hands were shaking so much that Kiba began to worry about possibly having a panic attack in the middle of Konoha. But he managed to keep control of his whole body... Just not his hands.

As he walked back to his home, Kiba frowned grimly. He didn't try to force a smile onto his face because he knew it would just look strained and pained. Luckily for him, it was still early morning and nobody he knew was walking around, so he didn't have to explain himself or his actions to anybody.

When he arrived back to his Clan's Compound, Kiba found his mother waiting for him at the gates.

Tsume wasn't frowning, but she did not have a smile on her face. But, when one actually thought about it, it was rare to see the Inuzuka Clan Head smiling when she wasn't in a battle. Kiba had grown up with more frowns and glares around him than smiles. Oh, and pompous laughter too.

The woman's arms were crossed over her chest and there was an annoyed glint within her eyes.

"Kiba."

"Ma."

Both members of the Inuzuka Clan squared their shoulders as they gave their tense greetings. The air around them was tense and thick, but neither would back down.

Tsume had a right as a mother to look down on her son. And Kiba had all the right as a defiant teenager to look back at her without any kind of hesitation.

Tsume looked her son over from head to toe, then at Akamaru, and finally nodded at them both. "Shikaku told us that he'd be having a word with you. Did everything go well?"

 _Did you embarrass the clan?_

The question wasn't voiced. But Kiba was able to read his mother well. And it pissed him off to no end for her to dare question him.

Their Clan had put him in his situation without a single concern for what he wanted... Why the fuck should he care about the petty appearances they wanted to keep?

Kiba couldn't stop his eyes from narrowing at the mention of the man. But he quickly tried to cover it up by looking away from his mother and shrugging half heartedly, hands still kept within his pockets. "Yeah. We just talked... He helped me come to terms with this marriage business." Then, when her eyes narrowed a bit and her shoulders straightened even more, he relented, "I didn't disrespect him. I was a good little boy."

His voice dripped with displeasure, but Tsume didn't comment on it. Instead the woman took one sniff of the air, another, and finally turned around and motioned for him to follow after her.

"The Elders were worried when Hana went to get you this morning and found that you weren't there. But all of your stuff was still in your room, so we knew you hadn't tried to run away." Her voice was strong and steady, making Kiba's stomach _drop_. "Inuzuka don't betray their homes."

The teenager stumbled over his feet at the sudden reminder of what he _had_ wanted to do. But he quickly righted himself, trying to keep his mother from noticing his moment of much too obvious guilt.

His stuff... He had left it at Asuma Sensei's apartment. He had been thinking about grabbing it before he returned to his Clan, but... It seemed he'd completely forgotten about it in his discontent as he'd returned to his house.

Could... Could Asuma Sensei have returned his stuff to his room? And if he had, had it been because Shikaku had ordered him to do it?

"Then we got word from a Nara courier that you had been called by Shikaku early in the morning and were supposed to be in a meeting with him. I'm relieved to hear you didn't make an ass of yourself, pup."

Kiba frowned at the woman's words but didn't say anything. Instead he just followed after her as she led him back to their house. And she didn't say much after that, instead allowing him inside before she headed deeper into the house.

"Freshen up. Put on some perfume. The Elders want to talk to you."

It didn't surprise him to hear that they wanted to meet with him. Kiba had expected it, actually, now that they knew that he had met with Shikaku. What he didn't expect, though, was to be told to put on perfume.

Even though he still wanted to fight tooth and nail against everything happening, Kiba just grit his teeth and made his way through his house until he reached his room. Once there, it was to find that everything looked as he had left it before except for one thing. The backpack he had taken with him to leave had been propped up against his closet.

With curiosity spurring him on, Kiba walked over to the bag and picked it up. When he looked inside, it was to find everything that had been in there before. But there was also a paper on top, one that had a small message scrawled on top of it.

 _Emergency mission bag._

Asuma Sensei had saved his sorry ass.

* * *

Once Kiba had left, Inoichi went to look for his best friend. The Nara had gone to his office after a courier had told him that his presence was needed and the Yamanaka hoped that he would catch the man there to be able to speak.

Shikaku was not surprised by his friend sauntering into his office without so much as a knock. He'd used this very entrance so many times before that it would be a bigger surprise to the Nara if he actually learned cordiality and knocked.

"I take it Kiba went back to his Clan?" The Nara asked without so much as a glance at his friend as he read over the files the Hokage had asked him to look over.

This had been the reason why the courier had been sent to find him. The report wasn't all that pressing. But it spoke of a growing threat to Konoha that begged to be in the center of attetion. A group of mercenaries that enjoyed to wear cloaks and run around as if they were the law... Shikaku didn't see them as a direct threat at the moment. But it certainly wouldn't hurt to keep this group within their sights and gauge their growth, make sure they didn't become _too_ powerful.

"Yes... The kid's a mess."

"I am aware."

"He didn't eat anything."

Hearing this made Shikaku feel somewhat troubled, but he didn't stop reading.

There weren't any names, just physical descriptions of the members. And after the fourth person he'd read up on, along with the fact that he seriously needed to get some sleep, Shikaku could safely say that he was not completely sure if there was a woman with purple hair and oddly colored eyes or if he was just mixing up descriptions.

"Doesn't surprise me." The man admitted as his eyes finally reached the bottom of the sixth page of the report on the members, then flipped it over to begin on the seventh. "His stomach must be in knots. When I was told I would have to marry Yoshino, I know I wasn't able to finish my lunch. But I was good again by dinner time."

"You're not taking this seriously enough."

Shikaku would have kept on reading throughout the conversation his friend wanted to have if he had been allowed. But as he swore he read that one of the members had _mouths on his hands_ , he found Inoichi's hand pushing the report down. Which, in turn, forced the Nara to look up at him.

With all intents and purposes, the Nara wanted to glare at his friend and scold him for interrupting something that could threaten their village's safety. But he was much too tired to try that. Especially when he took note of the displeased features on his friend's face.

Immediately taking his best friend's frown for the warning sign that it was, Shikaku sighed and set the report down on his desk to pick up later.

... He'd been hoping to finish reading as early as possible so he could get some rest... It seemed it would be yet another late night, though.

"There's not much I can do. If anything, I have already done more than I ever should have." As he said this, Shikaku leaned back in his chair, "If I didn't take this seriously, or if I didn't care about what happened to the kid, I would have let him leave the village."

Inoichi's frown deepened, but he soon breathed out and allowed his body to relax. "I just... I just imagine Ino being in his place. And it breaks my heart to think of my princess ever having to go through this. So it breaks my heart seeing him in this predicament."

Ino was the most important part of Inoichi's life. Yasuko, the flower shop, and the Clan were all contenders to be the second most important part. But when it came to the man's only daughter, there was no competition. He loved his daughter with all his heart. And he would do anything to keep her safe.

"You have too big a heart, old friend." With a soft sigh, Shikaku shook his head. But soon he stood up and motioned for Inoichi to follow him. "You have run yourself ragged with my problems. Let me treat you to something to ease your suffering."

"I am not suffering." The blonde rolled his eyes as he walked over to the office's door and opened it, "But I am not about to turn down a gift for my efforts."

"Were you respectful?"

"Of course." Shikaku smirked softly, "If that is what you wish to believe."

Inoichi sent one final smoldering glare at his friend that made the Nara actually chuckle.

It was good to have Inoichi around.

* * *

"Did you insult him?"

Kiba winced slightly at the question, but nodded tersely.

It would do no good to lie to the Elders. If he was good at sniffing out lies, they were masters. So it was best to just accept what he had done rather than face consequences of trying to lie to them and getting caught.

"How dare you-"

"In my defense, he got me angry." The teenager quickly interjected, "But he didn't seem annoyed by it..." Then his voice lowered and he admitted, "He seemed more amused than anything."

"That does not matter!" Growled one of the elders, but Kiba didn't care which one.

To him, they were all one and the same. They were always together and seemed to only share one mind. So, until he had to learn their names individually when he became the Head of his Clan, Kiba would never differentiate between them.

If he was lucky, they'd be dead and gone by the time his mother kicked the bucket.

"You cannot sully the Inuzuka name!"

Kiba flinched at the sudden slamming of hands on wood, keeping his gaze on his hands as they twitched on his lap. The shaking had calmed down after he had managed to get a few seconds to himself with the Inuzuka dogs that just wanted him to feel some kind of safety. But now the shake was coming back because of the meeting with his despicable Elders.

"Boy, we do not need you dragging our Clan through the mud. We were lucky to be able to pay back our debt with so much ease."

 _Ease_ , Kiba mentally huffed in chagrin. Ease to _them,_ the lousy bastards. They didn't have to give anything up. They weren't the ones that were being forced into marriage. So they would be repaying the debt with complete ease, in their perspective. But this whole 'paying the debt' business had caused Kiba nothing but pain from the very moment he'd heard of it.

"Aside from that," Continued a female voice, "We hope everything went well... Kiba, do you understand your place in this marriage?"

The question brought a bitter taste to Kiba's mouth. And answering it was so difficult the teen was surprised he was even able to speak.

"I... I am to play the omega..." His hands shook as he dug them into his lap, jaw tight as forced himself to speak, "While Lord Nara plays the alpha..."

"Exactly." Another male grunted, "Listen to me here, pup. When Lord Nara asks something of you, you will do it. No matter what. As his husband, you will have to cater to all of his needs. Have I been understood?"

Kiba wanted to yell at the disgusting Elder that he didn't give a damn about Clan politics, he wasn't about to cater to some old guy's needs... But he knew his place. Shikaku had put him in it by letting him see what might happen if he didn't play by the rules. Even though he _really didn't want to do any of this..._ He didn't want to see Hana in an ever worse situation.

"Y-yes." He stuttered out, even as his grip on his own thighs tightened.

He could feel his nails digging into his skin. His hands were still shaking, but he was able to stifle it by holding onto his leg. He was being rather harsh with himself, though. They were just about to pierce-

"You will submit. From now on, Lord Nara has the final say in everything. You are to be a good husband to him and you are never to fight him. It is your place to do as he says. It is your place as his omega."

His thighs were now bleeding. Kiba was digging his nails so harshly into his own skin that he had actually broken through. But it was the only thing he could do to keep from jumping up in anger and trying to fight. The pain was grounding him, forcing him to accept that this would now be his place.

If anyone other than his Elders had been asking him to submit, Kiba would have ripped their heads off. But he couldn't go against their word. There was no arguing with these bastards once they had made up their minds.

"Propriety and respect, pup. That is all we ask of you. Nothing more."

This time it was one of the elder's dogs that spoke up, sounding a thousand times more sympathetic and understanding than any of the humans.

To think, it was an animal to bring him some kind of comfort... None of the humans around him were being even remotely sympathetic.

The Inuzuka Clan was fucking messed up if the dogs had been the only ones to offer Kiba any semblance sympathy.

"Now that you understand your place in the marriage," There was ruffling of fabric as one of the Elders sat up, but Kiba kept his head down. When one submitted, they never looked into the eyes of the one dominating. It was an unspoken law within the Inuzuka. "We want for you to go on outings with Shikaku. The village cannot know this marriage was arranged. They must think that you two truly love each other."

A flash of panic rose in Kiba at this. Date? _Shikaku_?

Was the torture these people were going to put him through not enough? Did they have to degrade him even further by making him submit to the Nara more than just once in public? Did they really mean to make him have to take this damned relationship public? Have him and Shikaku be seen by his _friends_?

"We will set up a date for you to go out on. Until then, rest up and take care of that nasty bruise. You must look presentable when around your betrothed."

Kiba sneered as he heard the Council begin to stand up and leave the room. He stayed there, kneeling, waiting for them to leave. And once he was sure they were all gone, sure that there was no other scent inside the room other than his own, Kiba allowed the tears to well up in his eyes.

He had never submitted to anyone in his life... Not even as a pup, smaller than most from the pack because he refused to eat properly, had he allowed _anybody_ to decide his fate for him. The only people he ever listened to were those he _had_ to, his family and Elders. Aside from that, he'd always chosen his own route, made his own damn decisions. Because he had been bred to be the next Clan Head, strong and independent, capable of taking care of himself and all those around him. _He_ was supposed to have been the one to boss others around, make them submit to him.

His father had always warned him to not become too enamored with the prospect of being the decidir of his fate. The man had told him that in the Clan like the Inuzuka, family matters would always be more important than individual needs. Bred to be Clan Head or not, Kiba would need to be prepared for a life in which he might have to listen to more than just his Elders.

How Kiba wished he had listened to his father...

How he longed to be able to say that he'd be the leader of his life... In the past, that's what he had expected.

Now, though... Now he would have to do allow not only his Elders to make decisions for him, but also a man that was twice his age... He would have to listen to not only those he _needed_ to listen to within his Clan, but also to a man that would have nothing to do with him if not for that _damned debt_.

And he would never be able to get away from _any_ of this.

* * *

After he and Inoichi had eaten some lunch, Shikaku decided to return to his Clan and see what his meeting with Kiba had done to the plans of his Elders. Undoubtedly, they would have some words prepared for him for having taken matters into his own hands.

As he walked, the man couldn't help but think back on something Inoichi had told him.

 _"Well, I don't know what you're talking about. He never broke eye contact with me." After saying this, Inoichi shrugged, "Maybe he just doesn't feel as comfortable with you as with me?"_

 _Shikaku shook his head, "I've never seen an Inuzuka refuse to make eye contact. It's just not in their nature." Then the man breathed out, closed his eyes, and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's odd. I've never seen an Inuzuka look so... Small."_

He had said that specific word to keep Inoichi from throwing a fit. But the word he had actually thought of wasn't small. Instead, the word that came to mind when observing Kiba was submissive. And if he'd said that, then Inoichi would have gone on an endless rant about how _wrong_ Shikaku had to be, the _Inuzuka_ never submitted to anyone.

Shikaku had never personally seen a member of the Inuzuka Clan submit to anyone. They were all proud and strong. And he guessed that if any of them did submit, it must be a process that took behind closed doors, within their own compound.

Honestly, he wanted to believe that Kiba's actions had another explanation. Because Shikaku wasn't looking to share the rest of his life with someone that didn't give him any kind of discussions. He didn't want to have someone that would never question him as his partner.

Even though he and Yoshino were not in love, Shikaku did love her. Probably, if his sexual orientation had permitted it, he would have been able to fall in love with her. Her fire and passion had always managed to amaze him. And arguing with her over the dumbest of things had always brought a smile onto the Nara's face, seeing how, even though she wasn't as smart as him, the woman never allowed him to rest on his laurels for too long before she came up with a new round of points to combat him.

Lazy as he may be, Shikaku had always loved a good challenge.

He knew that he would not be able to have the same amicable relationship with Kiba as he had had with Yoshino. But he hoped that they would be able to get on pleasant terms so they would be able to live together without too much difficulty. Living the rest of their lives with animosity and discomfort between them would just make for an unpleasant life. And that wasn't worth going through, not even for his Clan and ideals.

When Shikaku entered his Compound, he was met with a message from the guard at the front gate. Even though he was already prepared to speak with the Elders, it seemed that they were demanding him to come and meet with them. The reason for wanting to speak with him was not specified. But Shikaku was more than sure as to why they wanted to see him. So he merely nodded and thanked the guard before he made his way towards his Elders.

He walked to the Clan's meeting hall with his hands dug into his pockets and an easy look on his face. Sure, he might have a thousand thoughts racing across his mind at the moment. But he wasn't the kind to allow his emotions to get the best of him or be easily seen by others. If there was one thing he did not enjoy doing, it was letting people see the turmoil he felt on the inside. His thoughts were his own and he wished to keep them that way.

He'd liked keeping his thoughts to himself for as long as he could remember. It was just a part of who he was. Just like Inoichi's overly emotional ways were a part of who he was.

When he reached the building at the center of the Nara compound that was used for great meetings like these, Shikaku entered without much hesitation. The halls were desolate and quiet, but when he reached the biggest room in the building, the man found all of his elders waiting for him.

"Elders," Shikaku greeted as he performed the small bow that was dogmatic in these situations. While the man did not feel remorse for going behind their backs to talk to the teen, he was aware that his actions could be seen as detrimental to them and borderline traitorous. So he would not push them any further than he already had... If he could help himself.

"Shikaku," One of the elder men greeted back, then motioned for the younger to sit on the cushions in front of them.

The Nara Clan was not one for extravagant luxuries, like the Uchiha or Hyuga Clans. Their buildings were sturdy, yet minimalistic. Their minds were some of the greatest in the village, so their architects and engineers always made their buildings as durable as possible when it came to any kind of treacherous weather that may appear. Their decorations were sparse, yet always chosen out of care and deep thought. Not one piece of furniture was misused nor any of the trinkets that would seem to only serve as aesthetic.

The 'Grand Meeting Hall' was a large room with barely any kind of furnishing. Only cushions were used, for the Elders had more love for comfort than appearances. Their seats were luxurious and placed in a strategic way that allowed them to take up a good half of the room in a large semi-circle. In front of them was another cushion, the one used by the person called in to talk to them.

Even though the Nara Clan was one of the most laid back and relaxed, their Elders enjoyed their power being absolute. And by only allowing one person to come in and meet with them, they ensured very little resistance to their choices. The sparse furnishing and heavy atmosphere created by feeling as if one were surrounded by the elders was a psychological trick to keep people in check while inside. The damn bastards may say they were kinder than the Hyuga or Uchiha Elders, but there was no such thing as a _kind_ member of a Council of Elders.

Once the Nara had knelt on top of the cushion left for him, he looked forward at the woman in the middle, waiting for someone to speak up.

"Why did you decide to talk to your betrothed without consulting us first?" One of the women drawled lazily from the side, making the man look over at her.

Every bit of her Nara heritage showed; from the slow motion with which she stirred her tea, all the way to the almost bored look on her face. She was the closest to kind of the elders, which was a trait attributed to also being the laziest. But, just like her fellow Elders, there was nothing comforting about her. Even her slow movements had a predatory grace about them that let anyone around her know that she wasn't someone to trifle with. Her short black hair was left in a loose style that didn't seem to have been brushed in a while, but everyone in that room knew that she did not care much for her appearance.

Shikaku stalled for a moment as he chose his words carefully, "I thought it would be best to clear the air between the two of us." His eyes darted between those seated in front of him as he wondered who would be the next elder to speak.

"And tell me, was this a profitable endeavor?"

This man was the harshest of the elders. He had been around for two of the Great Wars and sported scars to prove it. His voice was gruff and devoid of any emotion other than irritation. And the way his face was pulled by the tight ponytail he wore only helped make him seem even less amused with life. A truly hardened and displeased soul if ever Shikaku had to describe one.

"No, it was not. The child still believes I am at fault for this and he is upset that he is being forced to sacrifice so much at such an early age."

The use of the word child was not an accident on Shikaku's part. Still he hoped that these men and women would see the mistakes they would be committing by forcing marriage onto the heir of the Inuzuka Clan. And he hoped that he would help them see this by reminding them that, even though Kiba was a ninja, he was still very much immature. Just like he had been when he had been told to marry Yoshino.

"That is too bad." Sighed a woman with long hair and a penchant for drama. "Learn from now, Shikaku, an Inuzuka that isn't happy is a dangerous Inuzuka. You must work hard to please your new husband... Although you should not worry too much, they are the ones that enjoy putting in all the effort."

Shikaku frowned at the woman's words, feeling them to be a bit too distasteful to actually listen to, but wasn't allowed to say a single word before another man was speaking up.

"We have spoken with the Inuzuka elders and have agreed on what should be done now that you were so keen on communicating with the boy. This union should be seen as one of love by the village." The man held his arms crossed over his chest as he spoke to Shikaku, all the while he kept his gaze steady on the younger male. "To make it seem as if this relationship is genuine and there were no strings pulled in the dark, you and the _child_ are to go on dates around the village."

When the elders had first told him about wanting the villagers to think they were truly in love, Shikaku had known they would pull a stunt like this one. But he still hoped that they would listen to reason and leave Kiba be.

With mounting frustration, the man tried once more, "Elders, please, I _implore_ you; please do not force the child into this marriage."

"They owe us a debt—"

"Forget about that damned debt! Let that boy go marry whoever he wishes!"

The Nara were not known for their quickness to anger. They were usually a calm and level headed bunch, the antithesis to the Inuzuka. But just like everyone else, each member of the Clan had their own breaking point.

Shikaku just happened to be nearing his.

"We cannot possibly forget a debt that has been left unpaid for _decades_." Once more the oldest of the males spoke up, glaring over at the Head of the Clan. "And we cannot allow them to get away with having failed our Clan in our time of need. Yoshino died because of their incompetence."

"The boy had nothing to do with-"

"We do not care!" The man's glare became deadly as his voice raised to break through Shikaku's own. "You may be Clan Head, but we know what is best for this Clan! And after everything has been taken into very careful consideration, there was no better course of action to embark on. Forget the feelings of one individual; think about your whole Clan."

After this, the last of the females spoke up, looking Shikaku dead in the eyes. "You are no longer a child, Shikaku. You know the difference between right and wrong. So you are more than aware that what you did, how you chose to go behind the Clan's back to speak with the Inuzuka, is something we frown upon. And we will not take this transgression lightly. Know that you are now on thin ice with us Elders."

Shikaku knew that he was glaring maliciously at the woman. But he held his tongue back, lest he feel the punishment he informed Kiba of. He knew that, just like Kiba, if he went too far when he pushed the Elders, his own son could be in danger.

"We will tell you when this date will occur." The laziest of the woman, who had not said a single thing throughout the more animated bits of the conversation, breathed out with a slow wave of her hand. "Until then, you are excused."

Shikaku's whole body was uncomfortably tensed as he knelt there, allowing the men and women to verbally walk all over him. But with a curt nod the man forced himself to stand up and walk out of the room before he shouted anything out that would really get him into trouble he would not be able to escape from.

~..~..~

Please remember to review and tell me what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics (mostly Inuzuka related). Power imbalance. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties.

~..~..~..

Trying to keep his arranged marriage to himself was not an easy feat.

Really, he should get an award for somehow managing to keep his mouth shut about it. Because all he wanted to do was tell Hinata and Shino about what would eventually happen to him so that they could help him plan his escape from the village.

Acting as if everything was alright was hard. Trying to keep up with training and missions, while at the same time trying to get enough sleep and ignore the fact that there was a huge pain in his chest whenever he looked at his family, was not easy at all.

Hinata had at one point even asked him if he was alright. It had been after he'd failed for the sixth time to defeat her, a task that would normally only take him two or three times. Even though Hinata was superb at hand to hand, Kiba always knew how to use the element of surprise against her. And he always managed to catch her off guard by the third go round if he hadn't won in the second try.

He'd been frozen by the worry within Hinata's voice. Because, for a moment, he had actually forgotten that there was such a thing as sympathy in the world. Even though his family wasn't the best at showing it, _Hinata_ was.

His brain had screamed two different things at him after it had begun to work again, although his body had stayed suspended for longer.

One part of him begged him to tell her, Shino, and Kurenai Sensei everything so they could help him out of the mess he'd been forced into. And his mouth had even opened to do so, to let them know why he was paying much less attention than usual and why his movements were sluggish and stunted.

But then he was reminded about the Elders' wish to keep the marriage a secret. And how, if he told _anybody_ , they would somehow find out. No matter how well he tried, the Elders _always_ found out about things that went against their word. And their punishments were always swift and vicious.

The words had died before they had even found their way into his tongue.

He'd told his friends that he felt as if he was catching some kind of sickness, but that he should be fine.

From the looks that had been sent his way, Kiba had known that they had not believed him at all. But then he'd managed to divert the attention away from him and over to Akamaru, who, upon sensing his owner's distress, began to misbehave.

Shino's sunglasses were stolen, Hinata was tripped up, and Kurenai just barely missed winding up trampled underneath a large white dog.

The rest of that training session was spent trying to catch Akamaru. And, really, Kiba could never truly tell the dog how much he appreciated his companionship. Because words just didn't exist.

For the first time since he'd been told of his marriage, Kiba didn't feel any weight upon his shoulders. He just ran with a barely contained smile on his lips as he and his teammates tried to catch Akamaru and take back Shino's sunglasses.

After that, Kiba returned to his home to face something he wasn't prepared for.

The Elders wanted him to go out with Shikaku. On the next day.

He tried to tell his mother that he couldn't, he needed to attend the next training session with Kurenai, but the woman had shut him up. A Inuzuka courier had already been sent to tell his teacher that he would be missing from training because he would be dealing with clan duties. So, no, he had no excuses to turn to that he might use to get away from the date.

There had been no getting out of the situation.

So Kiba now found himself trudging towards Shikaku's office in the Shinobi area of the village, his hands in his pockets and a frown on his lips.

Akamaru had been forced to stay with Hana during the date because the Elders had wanted _nothing_ ruining the chance to make Shikaku and Kiba begin to seem like an actual couple.

Although, Kiba had left his window open... So, if Akamaru was smart enough, he'd be able to sneak out during Hana's busiest hours.

Kiba was _not_ ready to go and make nice with Shikaku... But if he didn't... He didn't even want to think about the consequences...

* * *

"Have you already finished with these papers?"

Shikaku hummed absentmindedly as he finished reading up the newest reports handed in from the group that had been sent after Yoshino's killers. But he soon looked up to find Chōza's plump fingers waving a brand new stack of reports Shikaku had _not_ seen.

"Not at all." The Nara murmured as he reached out to grab them, then took a moment to read over the title to make sure he truly hadn't read them.

On more than one occasion, he'd found himself accidentally forgetting about having read quite a few reports. It didn't happen often, only when his mind was much too busy to keep track of his actions.

It dealt with the newest batch of chunin that wanted to specialize in T&I. It was Shikaku's job to read this over and make sure that none of these ninja's skills would be underused in T&I. Usually, those that asked to be Tokubetsu rather than become actual Jounin knew their own limitations and didn't even fantasize about taking the Jounin Exams. So Shikaku barely ever had to stop someone from wasting their talents. But he still had to look them all over to make sure.

"Thank you."

There was a beat of silence in which neither man said a single thing. Then the plump Akimichi breathed in and spoke up, forcing Shikaku to listen to him.

When it came to Inoichi and Chōza, both men got attention paid to them in very different manners. Inoichi did so with an air of surety, as if he knew that he deserved to be listened to. And when someone ignored him, he demanded to be listened to. He was loud, to a degree. But it barely ever bordered on obnoxious. The man just said his piece, made sure to be heard, then allowed others to choose their own paths, if he agreed with them or not.

Chōza, on the other hand, didn't really seem like he _wanted_ people to listen to him most of the time. He spoke softly, although steadily. Like his son, he was a somewhat shy soul. Not fragile, never fragile. But Chōza wasn't like Shikaku or Inoichi. He preferred to listen to others rather than have to give his own opinion. This didn't meant he didn't believe in himself, he did... He was just _unique_. That was the only way to truly describe him.

When they had been genin, Chōza's solution to all problems was the same: Food. If it had a mouth, feed it. If it didn't, offer some food. If it had nothing to do with food, then they could eat and Shikaku could think of something while they did so. If, by some miracle, Chōza didn't try and fix something with food, he usually decided to give useful but rather generic advice he had undoubtedly read somewhere else.

He was a straight forward type of man that Shikaku could understand easily enough.

Because he knew his friend, Shikaku knew when Chōza _wanted_ to be listened to.

"Shikaku, are you alright?"

Chōza's dark eyes searched for the answer within Shikaku's own, making the Nara smile softly and nod stiffly. "I am alright."

"You just lost your wife, Shikaku." The broad male shook his head with a sad exhale, "There is no way that you could be alright."

The Nara was left stunned. Because, with the marriage situation, he had not truly been able to process the fact that Yoshino was no longer around.

It wasn't as if he expected the woman to saunter into his office on a Friday afternoon and demand to be taken on a date. He _knew_ that the woman would no longer come around to make mundane yet understandable demands. But... Nothing felt _different_.

... Did that make him a bad person?

"You have been drowning yourself in your work. Don't think I haven't noticed." The Akimichi continued to chastise him, apparently unaware of the suddenly vulnerable look that had entered Shikaku's eyes. "Inoichi may allow it because he thinks it's best for you, but I cannot stand by and allow you to work yourself ragged."

Shikaku's hand tightened momentarily around his pen. But he soon let go and allowed a small smile to grace his features.

"... Thank you."

He said this before he had even thought about why he was saying it. But soon enough Shikaku had an explanation for both himself and Chōza.

"I _have_ been working more, that is true. But it's not because of Yoshino's death."

Shikaku loved Chōza. He truly did. And he trusted the man with his and his son's life; there were only a handful of people that could claim that honor.

But even with this much trust, Shikaku didn't dare tell him about the marriage that had been arranged for him. He wasn't completely sure why this was. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Chōza had been trying to abolish the practice of arranged marriages within his own clan since he had become Clan Head. Maybe it was an unjustified fear of losing one of his greatest friends. Shikaku wasn't sure. But he wasn't about to tell the man the truth just yet.

Guilt grew within him at knowing that he was keeping information he had told Inoichi from Chōza, but Shikaku stamped it down easily enough. The guilt was substantiated. But all logic pointed to keeping quiet about the marriage for now.

"There has been a sudden influx of cases in the village. I've been working to keep up with everything." He looked away from his friend now, over at the window to his right, and noted the setting sun.

Kiba would make an appearance at any given moment now.

"I am truly grateful for your worry. But you don't have to waste too much time thinking on me. I am mourning in my own, private way."

Chōza was taken aback by the earnestness in Shikaku's voice. The man wasn't the kind to speak from the heart, he knew it. But soon the Akimichi was smiling back at him and Shikaku felt a weight he wasn't aware to have had on him leave his shoulders.

"I hope you have a good afternoon, Shikaku."

"You too, Chōza."

The Akimichi left his office after this. And Shikaku rejoiced in being alone for a few minutes, eyes closed and breathing deep and slow.

But then he remembered the vast amount of work he had to complete, groaned heavily, and forced himself to actually finish things rather than try and catch up on sleep.

* * *

"I'm not sure if I can do this..." Kiba muttered softly as he paced from one end of the office all the way to the other, then returned and repeated his swift motions.

The man had invited him out to go and eat. A rather simple proposal, really. And pretty gratifying on Kiba's end because he would end up eating at his favorite steak house for free.

But they were supposed to go together. As if they were on a date. And by all means, it would be a date.

Shikaku hadn't really needed to ask him if he wanted to go eat. They didn't even have to go and do that. All the Elders had wanted for this one 'date' was for them to go out and be seen together. The man was being kind and taking money out of his own pocket to try and make everything easier for him. But Kiba still felt like he was about to throw up.

He'd arrived at the office completely prepared to go out as soon as he arrived. Only to find Shikaku hidden behind piles of paperwork he had to go through before he left for the night. So Kiba had been forced to sit around and wait for the man to actually read _everything_.

Sitting had allowed his legs to bounce up and down, Kiba's jitters and nervousness getting the better of him in only a few minutes. So he had jumped up and walked over to the window. He'd stared out at the sights for a few minutes, tried to keep himself busy. But then the queasy feeling in his stomach had worsened and he had begun to pace. For some reason, remaining active helped his stomach calm. So he'd been doing that for a good two hours now. He'd just _paced_.

"It'll just be a normal lunch, Inuzuka."

Upon hearing the Nara's almost exasperated sigh, Kiba couldn't help but roll his eyes. The man was underreacting. How could he think this was something easy? Going out on a date with a kid his son's age... He should be even more worried than Kiba!

"How can you be so calm about this?" The teenager stopped himself from hissing, but was very close to it.

The man seated on the large and (presumably) comfy chair behind the desk in his office looked like the picture of perfect ease. There were no worry lines on his face and no tension on his shoulders. It irked the teenager to no avail to see him working on his papers so comfortably, as if there were nothing wrong in the world.

"Once you've lived as long as I have, you stop worrying over the little things, kid." The man breathed out as an answer, then leaned back in his chair to look the Inuzuka over.

The teenager continued to pace after this. He also glared straight at the floor, frown pulling his lips down. Kiba wanted to tell Shikaku that he was not being rational and was nearing annoying levels of relaxation. But the teenager knew that he needed to watch his manners around him, no matter what the man may say. He would not be able to get away with flat out insulting the man. The Clan Elders would chew him out if he even dared think something bad about the man. Much less speak it out loud.

After a few moments of silence, Kiba heard the scrapping of a chair against the floor. And when he looked over at the Nara, he found the man standing up from his spot and rolling his shoulders to stretch.

"You're like a restless cat." Kiba immediately bristled at the words, but Shikaku soon smirked and corrected himself, "Sorry, sorry... Restless _pup_."

That wasn't any better.

But Kiba had been warned. Either he was a good little boy when with Shikaku, or the Elders would make his life a living hell. And if forcing him into a marriage with a man twice his age wasn't something they considered even remotely bad, Kiba certainly didn't want to find out what they did.

"Can we go now?"

* * *

"Sure. You lead, though. I don't really know where it is that you want to go."

The poor kid was a mess. Shikaku felt somewhat bad over not helping him calm his nerves, but he also knew that trying to calm a worried Inuzuka was as easy as getting a Nara excited about something. Not easy at all. He'd worked with enough members of his clan to know when they needed someone to help them come down from their anxieties and when to just let them sort through their problems on their own.

There really was no reason for him to be such a wreck, though. They were only going out on a pleasant lunch for civilians and shinobi alike to see them together. As Inoichi had so eloquently put it when he'd forced Shikaku to explain why he wouldn't be able to go out for drinks with him and Chōza, "To sow the seeds of a real relationship!".

It was unfair, in all honesty, to be putting the kid through this. But Kiba was strong. And he was also a ninja. He had to be prepared to do anything for the sake of the mission. Even things that he wasn't prepared to do... Or things he didn't _want_ to do.

That was how Shikaku thought of this, after all, as yet another mission. And as long as he didn't have to do anything that compromised his morals to complete this marriage business, he would do anything and everything asked of him. It was his duty to his clan to listen to the Council of Elders and he would never go against their word unless completely justified.

Not that he didn't have a completely justified reason to go against his Elders this time around... But going along with these plans meant that Shikaku would wreak much less pain upon his son. As long as Shikamaru was safe, then he was happy.

When he'd been told during last night's meal that he would have to go out with Kiba, Shikaku had not given it much thought. He had already made peace with having to marry a teenager. Just like he had made peace with having to make their 'romance' a whole spectacle just to keep the Elders pleased. In reality, this was just another task asked of him by those above him that he needed to complete. If he thought about this in any other manner, Shikaku may have just tried to fight it further.

His marriage with Yoshino had been for his Clan. The birth of his son had been for his Clan. Now, this marriage to Kiba, would be yet another thing he did for his Clan.

It was rather simple when put into perspective.

As they walked along the crowded Konoha streets, the man noticed Kiba worrying his bottom lip. Normally this wouldn't be too bad. But seeing how the Inuzuka had much sharper fangs than regular humans, he could tell that the teen would be breaking through skin soon enough if he wasn't careful. So, with a not completely restrained sigh, the man tried to begin a conversation.

"So... Any good missions you want to boast about?"

Kiba looked over at him for a moment with eyes wide and distrustful. But the teen soon nodded softly, then shrugged, and finally thrust his hands into his pockets.

"Sure... I guess... I mean... I have a few adventures I could tell you about... But I'm sure none of them would impress you."

For a second, Shikaku wondered why Kiba would think this. He was more than aware that the boy knew of his status and most probably a few of his accomplishments in the war. But knowing about someone's own feats had never stopped an Inuzuka from trying to one-up them. If anything, it only made them competitive and wish to outshine them in heroic acts.

The Inuzuka were a rather predictable bunch.

Kiba, though... Wasn't as much an Inuzuka as Shikaku had thought. And this worried the man.

But then a thought struck him that allowed him to see why Kiba was so reserved. They weren't in a particularly agreeable situation. In Kiba's mind, there was no reason for him to even like Shikaku other than to keep his Clan happy. So there was really no reason to keep a conversation alive if there was no way to get around this marriage.

It left a sour taste in Shikaku's mind to think about this. But the man soon pushed that thought to the side and decided that if Kiba wasn't going to try his best to make this bearable, then he certainly would. He was too old and had lived through too much bitterness to not try and have some kind of good relationship with the kid.

"Try me." The man allowed a loose smile onto his face as he caught Kiba's eyes, then shrugged, "Maybe you will."

Silence fell over them after Shikaku tried. And the man felt as if maybe he'd pushed Kiba too far, maybe not enough... He wasn't sure. Even though he'd worked with many members of his clan before, the Nara was more than aware that Kiba was his own individual. Maybe he had been wrong in thinking that a little bit of prying would be good for him opening up-

"Yeah, maybe." He suddenly heard from beside him, then found Kiba going on a rather interesting and unique form of storytelling about the time he, Naruto, and Hinata- Lord Hiashi's eldest daughter, the man reminded himself- wound up digging for treasure only to try and save the village from a couple of face snatchers.

A rather interesting tale indeed.

* * *

Kiba had expected Shikaku to be exactly like Shikamaru. They looked like clones, acted just about the same, and even favored the same quirk of raising their right eyebrow when something was interesting but they weren't about to admit it.

This had been one of the reasons why Kiba had not been crazy about doing anything with the man. Even though Shikamaru was a great friend to have, Kiba didn't like hanging around him too much. His realistic-bordering-on-pessimistic outlook on life could really bring other people's moods down and the Nara didn't even seem to care about it. Kiba, on the other hand, enjoyed a much more positive view of the world, and hated it when someone tried to bring him down.

There was also the fact that while the Inuzuka had boundless reserves of energy, the Nara were much more lethargic and toned down in everything they did. Shikamaru didn't like hanging out with Kiba too much because when the Nara just wanted to lay down and watch clouds, the Inuzuka wanted to run around and drag all of their friends along with him.

With his previous encounters with Shikamaru, the young Inuzuka was completely prepared to deal with an older version of him.

To his great surprise, though, while Shikaku and Shikamaru were clones of one another and seemed to be similar in everything, they weren't. The man didn't mind when Kiba rambled on in a story and even coaxed him to continue with his rapid fire speech, soaking up every single word without difficulty. And when Akamaru appeared out of nowhere (which had made Kiba immediately thank his forethought of having left his window open) and jumped onto the man's back to lick his face, he didn't push him away gruffly like Shikamaru would've done. Instead he just rolled his eyes, patted the dog's head, and continued to walk forward as if there wasn't a large mutt on his body.

Shikaku's reaction to both himself and his dog had left Kiba truly surprised. But it was a good kind of surprise that made him chatter on about other missions he had gone on, excited to see that spark of interest in the man's eyes whenever any event in particular caught his attention.

He had never expected that he could actually enjoy speaking to Shikaku. In all honesty, Kiba had expected the man to be just like his son and to be brushed off like some annoying child instead of an equal. And even though they weren't equals, the Inuzuka reminded himself with slight chagrin, it was still nice to think that he wouldn't be pushed aside just because he was annoying.

The Inuzuka had been so enraptured in his retelling of a dozen different missions that he didn't even notice that they had arrived to the steakhouse. But when he did, both he and Akamaru immediately ran towards their favorite table- way at the back so that the owner couldn't scold them for her customers seeing a dog inside. But not before Kiba waved over at the owner's daughter, who rolled her eyes but smiled and nodded, already used to dealing with him so she knew what to do without even having to speak to him.

A few minutes after he and Akamaru had gotten comfortable in their favorite spot, Shikaku strolled up, the owner's daughter following a few steps behind.

When the man sat down, Kiba took notice of the woman's surprise.

Immediately, fear spiked up within him and it became hard to breathe. Would the woman question Shikaku as to why he was with her favorite customer? How would she go about it? Would she be rude and demanding? Or worse, would she ask Kiba himself why there was a new customer with him, even though he had been coming in here with the same people for the last three years?

Luckily, though, the green eyed woman quickly composed herself and offered Kiba a small smile before she spoke up, "I'm glad to see you're bringing in new clientele, Kiba."

His breath caught in his throat as the woman avoided everything he wanted her to not ask, but soon he remembered to breathe and smiled softly. "Well you always were complaining about how I never bringing anyone new... I decided to surprise you today."

The Nara quirked an eyebrow over at Kiba as he sat down, but turned to the woman and nodded. "I have heard great things about this steakhouse. And I'm sure they have not been exaggerated."

"Maybe a little if they came from an Inuzuka." The waitress offered with a small chuckle, then shook her head, "Would you like any drinks to start you off?"

After a second of thought, the man asked for a glass of water. With this the waitress nodded and walked off, which made Shikaku look at her quizzically for a moment before turning back to Kiba.

"Are you here so often that they already know what you order the second you come in?"

"Yeah." Kiba smiled softly, looking away from Shikaku to look around the large steakhouse he called his favorite.

It was a simple building that didn't stand out too much in Konoha from the outside. But inside it was dark, smokey, and always smelled delicious. The reason why it was dark was because of the owner and chefs' penchants for theatrics. And there were large tables set up with grills so groups could sit and watch chefs as they cooked their food.

"Normally one would like to sit closer to the actual cooking." Shikaku commented offhandedly, which had Kiba look back at him to see that the man was looking over the establishment as well.

"Akamaru wouldn't be allowed so close to the food." Kiba shrugged, bringing his hand over to his best bud's head to pet it softly.

They were seated in the booth as far from the entrance and light as possible. It was rather dark here, so maybe it wasn't the right placement for him and Shikaku being seen, but there was no way he was leaving Akamaru out to dry. Besides, the dog had curled up into the booth in complete comfort, claimed it as his. There was no way they would be leaving until the dog had been fed.

They spent the next few minutes in silence. Kiba wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, but just decided to take it as an okay thing. If Shikaku wasn't annoyed with him, then things were okay. And they were out on the date, like the elders wanted them... So things couldn't be that bad.

When the waitress next came around, she placed a glass of soda in front of Kiba, one of water before Shikaku, and placed a bowl filled with water on the floor near Akamaru. Then she offered a menu to the Nara before promising to come back in a few minutes and walked away to another table.

The man glanced over it for a moment before looking over at Kiba with a serious stare. "You know what's good here."

The sudden severity of his looks caught the boy off, but he quickly nodded, "Yeah."

"Then I trust you'll be able to order something good for me."

He... Had been expecting something much more worrying.

With a sigh of relief, the Inuzuka nodded. "Sure thing."

* * *

Once the boy had finished ordering for all three of them, Shikaku leaned back onto his chair and closed his eyes. He was comfortable and, he admitted to himself, it certainly couldn't hurt to follow the dog's example and get a little bit of shut eye.

Sadly, his moment of pure peace was cut short when he suddenly heard a shrill gasp from behind him before rushing footsteps headed his way.

"Kiba! What are you doing here?"

From the sheer loudness and energy in the person's voice, Shikaku quickly deduced that it was the resident loudmouth Jinchuuriki, Naruto, that had decided to barge in on them.

Still, he kept his eyes closed. Let Kiba handle his friend. The boy was mature enough to deal with the situation, the man reasoned.

"And with Shikamaru's father of all people?"

The second question seemed to have a bit more bite than it truly should have, but Shikaku didn't pay it too much mind. Naruto Uzumaki had always been known as a person prone to overreacting. And it wouldn't surprise the man at all if he somehow felt some kind of insult over Kiba being here with him, even though this 'date' really had nothing to do with the blonde.

"Uh... Naruto..." Kiba's voice faltered and Shikaku could hear the uncertainty within it as clear as day.

There was no need for him to step in. Kiba could handle Naruto. The questions were simple ones to answer and whichever way he chose to go about it, Shikaku would not intervene. If he told Naruto they were on a date, then it would help push the rumors around. With a loudmouth like him knowing, there was no doubt in Shikaku's mind that it would only be a matter of time before the rest of the village did as well. But if Kiba decided to say something else, give some other excuse other than the truth, the nara would not mind. He really had no reason to step in and force his answers on Kiba.

"Dude, are you okay?"

Hearing the worried intonation taken on by Naruto, Shikaku breathed in softly before resisting the urge to shake his head. Then he opened his eyes to look over at Kiba, only to find that he was starting to breathe a bit too harshly while his eyes didn't stick on one spot for more than a second before they were shifting away.

"Kiba, drink some of your soda." Shikaku offered softly, then looked over at Naruto with a neutral expression on his face. "Kiba helped me complete some duties in my office. I decided to thank him with a meal."

The answer made the blonde cock his head in confusion, then his eyes narrowed, "Wait a minute... That's weird! Just why in the world is Kiba even helping you? Aren't you supposed to be some big shot Jounin?"

"Yes. That is what I am." The man nodded slowly, then offered a small smile, "Kiba happened to be passing by when I was in need of help with some documents. He stopped and helped take them to my office. After that, he stuck around and helped with the filing."

Lying wasn't all that difficult when he had to do it to Minato's kid. Most probably because it wasn't even all that hard to lie to Minato himself.

Naruto's brows furrowed in thought. Shikaku could just _see_ the cogs in his brain turning as he tried to piece two and two together.

"But... Kiba hates office work..."

Even if they were supposed to be spreading the seeds of there being an infatuation between the both of them, Shikaku could not blame the kid for being so reluctant. This was one of his friends. It must be embarrassing for him to even think about being together with someone his age. Who knew just how humiliating he would find having to explain falling in love with someone so old to his friends?

"But... Kiba hates office work..." The blonde murmured almost numbly, eyes turning to Kiba with what was clearly badly disguised betrayal.

Why, Shikaku wondered. Why would Naruto feel betrayed by his friend working in an office? And why would he look so _hurt_ even though none of what had supposedly happened between Shikaku and Kiba affected him?

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Kiba cut in before the other teen could say anymore, most probably trying his best to avoid any more of Naruto's questions.

Bright blue eyes blinked in stupefaction at the sudden change, but soon the teenager smiled softly and motioned behind him. "Team 7 just finished up with an out of village mission. We wanted some food but Sasuke refused to eat at Ichiraku's again. Kakashi Sensei says your clan loves this place so we decided to give it a try."

There was a softness on Naruto's features as he looked at Kiba... One that had not been there when he'd directed his attention towards Shikaku. It was rather intriguing, if the Nara could tell the truth. Just what could it mean?

"We do." Kiba nodded, then glanced over to where Naruto had pointed towards. "So... Doesn't that mean that you're supposed to be eating with your team right now?"

"That is exactly what it means, Inuzuka."

The new voice was one that Shikaku was rather well acquainted with. Sasuke Uchiha, being the Heir of his Clan, had wound up sharing many spaces with Shikamaru. And, by association, with Shikaku. He was an intelligent teenager with a bit of a temper, but a rather good control of it. He was nothing like his brother in patience, but Shikaku doubted there were many people that could stay as calm as Itachi in just a quarter of the situations the young Clan Head had been put through.

"Naruto, what are you doing over here? Come on. We're here because you insisted on eating like a team." A female voice piped up and Shikaku turned his head to find that the rest of Team 7 was approaching their table, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno at the front while their teacher hung around the back.

"Lord Nara?" The girl suddenly gasped when both she and Sasuke were able to get a clear view of him, which made the man smile softly and give a half hearted wave. "Is Naruto bothering you? Naruto, you idiot!"

"Hey, I wasn't doing anything!"

"I thought you were dying of hunger, idiot. Let's go. I want some food before I head back home."

The Uchiha grabbed Naruto by his right arm and began to pull him away, all the while the blonde struggled and tried to shout about how he hadn't been causing any trouble. Luckily enough, before he could start yelling too loudly, Sasuke clasped his other hand over his mouth, effectively silencing him.

"Huh? Kiba?" Sakura's angered face morphed into one of confusion when she noticed the dog nin sitting parallel to Shikaku, but quickly shook her head and smiled back at the older man. "I'm really sorry about Naruto. He can be really stupid sometimes."

"It really wasn't any bother." The man waved her concern off, closing his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Now go back to your team. There really was no harm done."

He didn't see her exit, but when Shikaku opened one eye to look over in the direction Team 7 had been, he found their teacher looking over at them with a thoughtful air around him. Their eyes met for a second and neither man relented. They just looked at one another, Shikaku silently daring Kakashi to say anything. And Kakashi, in turn, dared the Nara to speak up.

But soon the younger male was pulled back to his team by Sasuke calling to him. Shikaku watched him turn to the teenagers for a moment before he righted his position and gave a small smile to a clearly freaking out Kiba.

"You've got some rather interesting friends."

The teenager groaned and allowed his head to drop onto the table in front of them, loosening a small chuckle from Shikaku.

Such theatrics.

~..~..~

Please remember to review!


	7. Chapter 7

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics (mostly Inuzuka related). Power imbalance. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties.

~..~..~..

He couldn't sleep.

He wasn't _definitely_ sure why.

With an annoyed huff, Shikaku sat up, allowing his sheets to pool around his waist. Eyes still closed, the man passed a hand through his hair, seeing how it wasn't in his customary ponytail now that he had tried to sleep- he hadn't cut it in a while; it was somewhat longer than he usually liked it.

The night wasn't overly cold, so he couldn't be having trouble sleeping because of that. It was actually cool enough to require him to use his sheets, but warm enough to not have to bring out any thicker coverings. Nor had he been forced to use a pajama shirt, so he was merely using some pants to sleep.

And it couldn't really be stress from his job; even though there were more missions to contemplate and more ninja outside the village to worry over, Shikaku knew that he had done everything he possibly could to ensure the highest probabilities of success on all missions he'd looked over.

Momentarily, he pondered if he was having difficulty sleeping because he couldn't hear Yoshino's loud snores coming from the space on the bed beside him. But he soon shook that feeling off; how could anyone possibly miss something that was so loud and disruptive? No, that couldn't possibly be it.

… Maybe it was worry over Kiba?

Shikaku knew that Kiba hadn't really been in the best frame of mind when they had parted a couple of hours ago. The kid was still shaken over their date having been interrupted by his friends. And he had barely eaten at all…

Shikaku had never really lost much sleep over other's kids. Ino and Chouji were the only children he'd ever truly worried over; he considered them family; just like he considered their parents to be his own family. If anything happened to them, he was sure he would be affected. But this was _Kiba_. He'd never had any interest in the kid before. He'd never worried over him, nor did he have a significant relationship with his mother to make him _want_ to worry.

Taking a moment to frown and lament over yet another night of lost sleep, Shikaku decided that there was no other explanation: The kid worried him.

With a heavy sigh, he threw the sheets away from his legs, stood up from his bed, and made his way outside of his room and over to the main area of his house.

A night spent in bed but wasted with no sleep was a completely unproductive night. So, if he wasn't able to get any rest, he may as well busy himself doing something else.

He'd left most of his files back in his office, seeing how he'd wanted to get a reprieve from all of the reading he'd been forced to do. He only had one he'd brought with him, which was an S-Ranked, classified mission of utmost importance that he really needed to ponder over.

The shinobi sent on this mission had to be only the best Konoha had to offer. The balance of more than just one Hidden Village's political stability hung in the balance. So he needed to make sure that the people he approved to be sent on this mission were only the best.

"Might as well look it over again…"

* * *

He couldn't sleep.

Unfortunately, he was completely sure as to why.

Wiping away the heated tears that streamed down his cheeks without his permission, Kiba jumped up from the floor and began to pace around his room.

This was the third nightmare where Asuma and Shikaku played the bad guys that he was subjected to. And it had been the worst of the bunch.

Asuma had trapped him. Shikaku had mocked him. Then the Nara had…

With a hiss, Kiba shook his head violently.

The dream cut off with Shikaku standing over him with a vicious sneer on his lips and a dangerous glint in his eyes. Asuma had been a mere shadow in the corner of his vision; a faint object lost to him as the Nara stood over him with promises of violent confrontation clear on his face.

The thought that the real Shikaku and Asuma would never hurt him came to Kiba. But it was lost to him amidst the terrified screaming of _Get away, get away, don't get close to them_ that dominated his mind.

Suddenly stopping in his frantic pacing, Kiba glared down at the sandals that lay peacefully on his floor.

He couldn't just lay there and sleep. Not with the heavy threats that were these two men to his life. How could he just sleep when he knew that if either of them wished to knock him around and use him, they would be able to do it without any difficulty?

The answer was that he _couldn't_. He couldn't sleep; not when he knew that those two could do whatever they wanted to him because they were so much stronger than him.

"C'mon, boy. We're going out for some training."

Akamaru had been awake the whole night. He hadn't slept at all, not with Kiba tossing and turning on his stomach. And the human felt somewhat bad for putting his partner through this, but he couldn't really ask anyone else for help. There were only a few people that could know about the arranged marriage he was being forced into; and _none_ of them were the kind of people Kiba felt he could trust in.

The large dog took his time standing up. And he even asked just what kind of training Kiba thought he could do at this hour of the night as he plodded over towards him.

" _Any kind_ , boy." Kiba huffed, moving towards his window to open it. He didn't feel like going outside into his house to leave like a normal person out of fear of running into either of his family members or any of their dogs. "I can't just stand around and twiddle my thumbs."

The dog growled softly, warning him about the kind of trouble they could get into for leaving in the middle of the night.

Akamaru was being affected by Kiba's predicament too. And it was obvious from how short his fuse was tonight. But Kiba wasn't about to back down, "Either you come with me or you stay behind and listen to ma screaming when she finds out that I went out."

 _That_ was enough to set the dog in motion.

The animal jumped out of Kiba's window with an annoyed growl following him, all the while Kiba smirked behind him.

 _No one_ , human or animal, ever wanted to be on the receiving end of one of his mother's 'What do you mean you don't know? _You're supposed to know!'_ rants.

He'd finished deciding on who would be the best shinobi to send on the mission. And then he'd finished reading a book Yoshino had told him to read two years ago- he'd put reading it off because he'd never actually find a time where he wasn't busy either working or sleeping.

Now he had nothing to do.

* * *

Sleep was _not_ tugging at his eyes. Even though, normally, on nights like these, he would at least find some hint of heaviness pulling at him after the two large things he'd read.

Glancing over at the clock that hung in the very center of his family room, Shikaku found that it wasn't even two in the morning. It was much too late, yet, at the same time, much too early to be doing anything other than sleeping.

Ruefully, he noted that even if he tried to explain to his friends that he'd gone through a sleepless night, they most probably would not believe him. What kind of Nara couldn't fall asleep?

With a heavy sigh, the male closed the book he'd finished- a rather interesting biography on one of the most revered mathematic minds to ever have been born in Konoha. Once he'd put the book down on the small table beside his large couch, he looked around him and took in the room that was showcased to him in a dim glow.

The lamp beside him used to be one Yoshino _hated_. She found it unbelievably ugly. Shikaku had never understood that. It was just a lamp. He had never been able to wrap his mind around the idea that someone could hate an inanimate object simply because of how it _looked_.

Even with the lack of proper lighting, the man could see that the room around him was covered in a thin sheen of dust. Normally, Yoshino would clean up the house and keep it in pristine conditions. But she wasn't around to do such a thing anymore, now was she? No, now it was up to him and Shikamaru to clean the house. And Shikamaru hated house work even more than he hated normal work.

With a soft groan, Shikaku stood, stretched out his body, and allowed himself to not feel completely annoyed with deciding to actually clean his house up.

Someone had to do it, after all. And he highly doubted Shikamaru would step up to clean.

"Ah! This is getting me nowhere!"

Kiba threw himself at the ground with a frustrated sneer on his lips.

He'd been training for _hours_.

Darkness still hung over the training ground he'd picked to begin training and the moon still illuminated the forest with its faint glow. Stars were still shining and the animals that called his surroundings their home were still singing; although there were much less singing than before. He may have scared a couple with his Fang Passing Fang technique when he'd gotten too close to the edge of the clearing.

But Kiba _knew_ that it was only a matter of time before the sun peeked its annoying head over the darkness and began to shoo the night away. It was only a matter of time before roosters would start crowing and birds would start chirping… Only a matter of time before Konoha began to wake up; before his _Clan_ would begin to wake up.

He didn't want to start a new day. Not with the knowledge that said new day would bring more chances to accidentally piss off his Clan and Elders. Not with the knowledge that the new day would bring him to spend time with his team to train; would bring him new chances to tell them just why he wanted to get the hell out of Konoha and never return.

Akamaru huffed at him, reluctantly reminding him that, no matter how much he trained, he couldn't just rely on Clan techniques to be able to defeat jounin-level opponents.

Kiba sneered back at him but remained quiet.

Clan jutsu was what he was best at. It was all he'd actually focused on perfecting. Even though he had been told time and time again that he would need to know more than just that to take on the real world, he'd let himself believe that he'd be able to defeat anyone he needed to with just those attacks.

But he needed more than just his Clan's attacks to defeat others. He'd never wanted to admit it before, but he knew it.

"Where could I even start learning that?"

It's not like he could ask Kurenai Sensei for help... Well, he could… But she'd ask why he wanted to learn more; why now; why not before. And she wasn't even all that great with the kind of jutsu that Kiba might excel at- her greatest skill was genjutsu and still wanted to nurture love within Team 8 for that type of jutsu.

Kiba sucked at everything that required finesse, though, and he wasn't about to try and fool himself otherwise.

Once again, his dog answered his question. And, quite frankly, the answer was so obvious that Kiba felt like an idiot for not having thought about it himself.

"Alright… Let's go then, boy."

Akamaru growled, telling him that he needed to get some rest before he collapsed from both chakra and physical exhaustion.

Kiba growled back but allowed his body to remain lying down on the floor for a little while.

Forget his Clan worrying about where he may have gone and if he would come back. He wasn't going back home until he had learned _something_.

* * *

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"… Are… Are you cleaning?"

Shikaku offered his son one unimpressed look, nodded stiffly, then finished dumping the dirty water that was within the bucket he'd used to mop the floor.

"Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

Shikaku frowned softly at the question, placed the bucket down on the floor he'd just finished cleaning, and turned to look at Shikamaru.

The teenager was dressed in his pajamas, had his hair mused and looking as if it had not been brushed yet, and had his eyes wide open with shock and disbelief. The first two bits were clear indicators of him having just woken up. The alert look in his eyes, though, made him look much more awoken than was usual of him at this hour of the morning… Just what was the hour?

"There was dust everywhere." He answered with a soft sigh, moving over to the kitchen and waving him over. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No… Dad, you can't cook."

"Why would you say that?" Shikaku felt somewhat insulted at his son saying this, but still moved towards the refrigerator to pull out some eggs.

"Because last time you tried, you burned the pot you were boiling water in." Shikamaru walked up to him and pushed the box of eggs back inside, then looked at his father through narrowed eyes.

Shikaku returned the look with one of annoyance.

After a moment of both Nara glaring at each other, Shikamaru shook his head and sighed softly, "Besides, Chouji offered to make breakfast for us both. He should be getting here any time now."

"He doesn't have to-"

Shikamaru cut him off with one steady glare. "Dad, you evaporated water in record time and burned a hole straight through a pot _created_ for cooking. Just accept the Akimichi's kindness."

Shikaku found it odd to have Shikamaru talking to him with such surety. And he kind of felt a bit like a child getting scolded. But soon he shrugged, nodded, and moved over to grab two cups so he could fill them up with something to drink.

"How long until he gets here?"

Just as he finished saying this, Shikaku heard a knock on his door. "Shikamaru! Are you awake?"

Shikaku smiled softly at Choza calling out to them, but just continued serving up their drinks. Shikamaru moved to answer the door, calling back "Yeah! Did you eat breakfast already?"

"Nope. We decided to eat with you guys."

Shikaku pulled out two more cups and placed them down on the kitchen counter as soon as he heard this.

When Choza and Chouji walked into the kitchen, they did so with a delicious smell accompanying them. And it was when he smelled this that Shikaku noticed just how truly hungry he was.

Huh… Cleaning really _did_ take a lot out of a person… No wonder Yoshino would always gripe at them over not helping her out…

"Good morning, Shikaku." Choza smiled warmly at him, although Shikaku could see a glint of surprise within his kind eyes.

Was it really all that shocking to see him awake at this hour?

Both Akimichi males pulled out the bowls of breakfast they had packed and began to set them up around the counter while Shikamaru pulled out some plates. Shikaku busied himself by opening the fridge and bringing out the orange juice he guessed would have been normal to eat with the breakfast.

As he served four glasses of the drink, he heard Chouji muttering quietly to Shikamaru, "He's already dressed… I thought he hated mornings…"

"I thought so too… But, dude, I found him _cleaning_."

"What? No way!"

Shikaku chose to ignore the whispers and turned to Choza. Alright, he got it, he was a Nara. He enjoyed being lazy and doing nothing. But it seriously couldn't have been all that shocking to see him awake at this hour.

He asked the man how he had been and Choza did not hesitate at all to answer. This allowed them to enter a casual conversation on what was happening in the Akimichi Clan and, as a consequence of this, in the Village as well.

They ate with pleasant enough chatter.

Although Shikaku _knew_ that when they thought he wasn't looking, all three of his companions would glance at him with complete disbelief.

Quite frankly, all three of them were overreacting and being much too dramatic.

* * *

Luckily for them, the library opened up at five in the morning. So they were able to hunt down some food in a 24 hour pharmacy, eat some dried beef jerky because Kiba refused to return home just yet, and return to the library just as the chunin that was supposed to open it stepped in through the door.

Without spending a single second contemplating on how _weird_ his life had gotten- at one point, Kiba had hated libraries more than he'd hated having to help cats- both Inuzuka Clan members ran into the building and began to search for _anything_ to begin with.

Amazingly enough, there were so many different kinds of books within the library that Kiba actually felt _overwhelmed_ with the kind of information that was held within.

"Where should we start?"

He and Akamaru currently stood staring up at the largest bookcase that the library held. In here there were books that dealt strictly with Earth Release… Apparently, it was the most abundant chakra affinity within Konoha… Or, at least, that's what Kiba guessed, seeing how there was a huge section dedicated solely to that kind of affinity.

"Yo, Inuzuka."

The teenager turned to look behind him, only to find a kind face he'd seen only a handful of times before.

"Hagane." He nodded at him, took in the fact that _he_ was inside of the library, and smirked softly. "What'd you do to get stuck on library duty?"

The man rolled his eyes and stuck his hands into his pockets.

It was no secret that there were _two_ jobs the Hokage assigned whenever shinobi acted stupid or crossed the line (in non-harmful ways): Gate and Library duties. They were rather harmless punishments that helped put rowdy ninja in place. The harsher punishments were reserved for those that crossed the line in ways that could have harmed themselves, their teammates, or the Village itself.

"What I did is of no importance." He shrugged, but Kiba _knew_ that the story must have been good if he didn't want to talk about it. "What matters here is what an _Inuzuka_ is doing inside of a library at _opening hour_."

Well… When he put it like that… Kiba could see just why it was weird to see him here.

"Assignment." He responded stiffly, moving so he didn't have to look at the man. "Need to learn some Earth Release attacks."

"Seriously? Huh, never expected to hear an Inuzuka talking about anything other than his Clan's attacks."

Kiba wanted to hiss at him that he knew _nothing_ about him or his Clan.

But before he could make an ass of himself, he found Kotetsu passing him and walking up to the large bookcase that had managed to intimidate him and Akamaru.

"Well… Knowing an Inuzuka, books made for beginners would bore you… They're 'too simple'… So something intermediate would catch your interest much faster than that…"

Kiba wanted to tell him that he was wrong. He really did. But he knew himself well enough to know that, yeah, he would have most probably started to read one about beginner's, gotten bored because of the utter simplicity of the techniques, and would have then proceeded to chuck it away so he could get his hands on something tougher.

The man pulled out three different books, all of varying width and height, nodded at himself, and turned to Kiba with a small smile.

"These should help you out."

Kiba quirked a curious eyebrow up at him but still moved to grab the books. And from looking over at the titles and the pictures within, he could safely say that he was somewhat intrigued in trying to read from them.

For a moment, both males stood there, silence reigning over them just to be broken by the soft whooshing of pages being passed.

Feeling momentarily awkward, Kiba decided to break out of the odd atmosphere they'd fallen into.

"So, what, you get in trouble so much you know where the best books are?"

"I'm not answering that." Kotetsu deadpanned, a serious look on his face, but Kiba could see the amused glint within his eyes and the softness around his face. "Anyway, if you need to know just what kind of 'beginner jutsu' some of these talk about, you can pass by my desk and I'd gladly show you. Nothing exciting ever happens on my shift."

Oh, yeah, this guy was here because he'd been an idiot.

Kiba _really_ wanted to find out just what he had done to be stuck in this kind of job.

But he decided against pestering the guy so he could actually focus back on the reason why he was even inside of the Library.

"Thanks, dude."

He handed one of the books over to Akamaru- maybe he heard Kotetsu gasp in dismay when the dog's jaws closed around the book, maybe he didn't; he'd never admit to anything- and began to make his way over to one of the tables by the back so he could read without being bothered by anyone that may have come in.

As he read over one of the introductions to earth affinity, Kiba noted why it was that he'd never really paid much attention during school… Reading was _boring_.

But he needed to force himself to learn. He _needed_ to get stronger. He couldn't just rely on his Clan's attacks. He and Akamaru were strong together, yeah, but they were unbelievably outmatched when compared to the likes of Asuma Sarutobi and Shikaku Nara.

He _refused_ to continue being so weak.

~/~

"Don't look at me like that, dude."

The scathing glare continued to pierce his soul, though. And Kiba couldn't help but roll his eyes at Shino.

They dared call _him_ dramatic? He had _never_ spent a full five minutes glaring at either of his teammates because they'd been _late_. Nope. Never. He didn't have enough concentration to glare at someone for more than just one minute, really, so he couldn't say much… But he'd never spent so much time being so petty. He didn't have it within himself.

"Where were you, Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked softly and Kiba almost cheered at finally hearing someone speaking.

He _understood._ He may have been stupid, but he got it. He didn't need Shino to continue glaring at him like he had been doing.

"I was at the Library."

He'd been so happy with all of the knowledge he now had that he hadn't stopped to think about how _little_ his teammates would have believed him.

He noticed his mistake, though, almost immediately. Hinata giggled softly and Shino grunted, both reacting in their individual manners because of sheer disbelief.

"There is no need for you to lie to us, Kiba. We have been a team for years now; you know you can trust us with anything." Shino's words were supposed to be encouraging and calm, but all Kiba could think of was that he had a bunch of unpleasant weapon-shaped surprises hidden inside of his jacket and he _really_ didn't want to anger the guy too much.

"I'm not lying! I'm being serious; I was at the library this whole time. Right, Akamaru?" The dog barked without skipping a beat, and Kiba knew he'd done it on purpose to make him look bad. The dog only ever answered him so quickly whenever they got into trouble and Akamaru knew his teammates knew this. "You can ask Kotetsu Hagane! He was there. Heck, he even helped me pick out some books."

"Kiba-kun, we're not judging you or anything… But you _hate_ libraries." Hinata spoke up in a somewhat breathless manner, apparently too amused by what Kiba had said to truly take him seriously. "You can tell us where you were… We promise we won't tell on you to anyone that might come looking for you."

Kiba growled in frustration, threw himself on the floor, and noticed how truly futile it was to try and convince his friends that he really had been at the library.

Curse his book hating ways!

"Fine… I was scouting out a new location for a possible prank… Or something or another you'll believe…" He added the last bit in a whisper, completely aware that this was a blatant lie and _so_ not the way he should be trying to handle this.

But his teammates wouldn't believe his library story unless he _proved_ to them that he really had been reading. And he wouldn't be able to do that just yet; he'd only just begun to learn how use Earth Release, he still couldn't perform anything he could use as evidence.

"You missed a day of training because of a prank? Kiba, you are a chunin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. This is not dignified-" _Blah, blah, blah._

Kiba didn't listen to Shino as he went on yet another rant about them having to be proper shinobi. Instead of paying attention to his friend, he began to think back on what he had read about Earth Release and what he'd heard Kotetsu tell him when he'd asked the man for some help.

His affinity was for earth, so he was supposed to have a somewhat easier time dealing with this type of jutsu than someone like Hinata would have. But it would still be difficult, seeing how nothing in his life could ever be easy.

Still, that Headhunter attack had looked freaking awesome and he refused to _not_ use it in battle any longer than he didn't have to.

Akamaru nipped at his hand, signaling the end of Shino's rant. And Kiba had never been any happier to have this dog as his partner; he was pretty damn sure that any other dog would have given up on him long ago.

But the dog may just be in a better mood now that he'd been allowed to sleep as Kiba had forced himself to actually read and learn.

"There is no excuse for you to not come to training. All three of our Clans are on high alert and refuse to send any of their Heirs on missions- now is the perfect time to train and perfect our skills."

Hinata nodded with a small, completely sure, 'hmph'.

Kiba had no idea just how his friends could be so calm.

All three of their Clans had been targeted by the people that had killed Yoshino Nara. And, pretty understandably enough, all three of their Clan Heads wanted to keep their Heirs safe and inside of Konoha until the monsters had been found.

But just because they were inside the Village didn't mind they were safe.

Yoshino had been killed inside the Forest of Death. Just like some of his clansmen.

… Maybe it was because they hadn't lost anyone… They didn't have the knowledge of 'they _can_ kill me' like Kiba did…

With a soft huff, Kiba nodded. "Yeah, I understand… I'll be here tomorrow. Don't worry about it."

From the looks they gave him, the Inuzuka could clearly see that they weren't feeling as sure as he was. But Kiba smiled at them, trying to ease their worries. Seriously. It wasn't as if they knew anything. They had no reason to worry.

~/~

… Yeah… They may have had reason to worry…

"Kiba… Are you feeling alright?"

"Never better, Kurenai Sensei!"

 _Complete lie_.

He was swaying, his head was pounding, his body felt like it was about to give out any second, there was a slight ringing inside of his left ear, he felt that his mouth _still_ had dirt inside of it, and he swore that there were two Akamaru's now, one on either side of him.

But he wasn't about to tell anybody around him _any_ of this.

Luckily for him, one of the Akamaru's stood stiffly beside him, giving him a solid surface to lean against to try and not look like he was _too_ out of it.

"You are lying." Kiba would have rolled his eyes at Shino's deadpan, but he knew that if he did that, the world would start spinning again. And he _really_ didn't want that to happen. "How do I know? Because I can barely sense any of your chakra. What have you done?"

"Just some extra training…" Kiba felt like he was waving Shino's concern off… But he wasn't completely sure, seeing how his arms felt like they weighed more than a ton. "I'm fine."

"Training? At night?" Kurenai sounded actually surprised by this, "What did you do?"

"Simple stuff; nothing too big."

Did Kurenai have him under some genjutsu to make him see that there were two of hers? Or was that just the lack of oxygen still affecting him?

"Hinata, look him over."

Kiba wanted to protest as his teammate's hands appeared on his arms and began to direct him to the floor. But, seriously, even if everybody there had put their hands on him, there would only have been six hands- he was seeing _twelve_. So… Yeah… Maybe sitting down wouldn't hurt him too much.

He closed his eyes as Hinata checked him over, just letting her do whatever it was that she thought was prudent.

Admittedly, trying to use the Headhunter jutsu on his first day of actually putting theory into practice may not have been his _best_ idea. But everything had been going fine and dandy until he'd found a patch of dirt that had been much denser than the rest. So he'd gotten stuck underground, suddenly forgetting how to do _anything_ as he struggled to flail limbs that were _underground_.

Drowning was something he had experienced before. The sensation of drowning was unpleasant, but it was survivable. With enough calm, one could keep their head above water and regain their strength. Suffocating underground, though, was _nothing_ like drowning. There was no flailing, no possibility of sticking a neck out to catch some bursts of oxygen… There was just deafening silence and _solid_ surroundings.

If it hadn't been for Akamaru digging him out, he was sure he would have died a _really sad and extremely painful_ death.

Softly, he could hear Akamaru scolding him once again.

 _I told you your chakra reserves were too low! I told you that you should have waited until you knew more about softening the earth! Kiba, you could have died!_

All that he could think about, though, was the fact that he'd managed to move across the ground on just his first day of actually _trying_ to use the earth style attack.

… Although, maybe he should try making earth walls and staying above ground for a little while longer… Just until he was sure that he really could keep control of his chakra while stuck underground.

"Chakra exhaustion, Kurenai Sensei." Hinata eventually called out and Kiba opened his eyes to find that at least there was only one of his teammates and teacher now. "And his breathing used to be short and stunted… But it seems to have normalized now."

"See? I'm all good, Sensei." Kiba flashed them a somewhat wobbly smile, moving to get up. "Now what're we doing today?"

" _You're_ going to rest. Kiba, chakra exhaustion is no laughing matter." Kurenai scolded him, but all Kiba could truly think of was where was he supposed to go to rest?

There was no way he was going home just yet.

He _refused_ to look at his mother or sister.

"Akamaru, make sure he rests up, please."

Oh, that was a dirty play.

Akamaru barked and nodded, though, so Kiba knew that his partner wasn't going to be backing him up today.

… Mutt…

~/~

He got smarter after that one misadventure. He didn't drain his chakra completely. And he made sure to not do anything too risky until he was sure he was able to drag himself out of any holes he may accidentally wind up inside.

Training with his team became harder than it should have been because of his nightly training. But he knew that all of his hard work would eventually bear fruits. And that's all he actually needed: to get stronger.

The good thing about this harsh training regime was that he didn't really have to see his family at all.

He always got home in the afternoons and happened to be so tired that he would sleep straight through the time his family would usually appear. And because he went out to train at night and went directly to go and train with his team when the sun rose, he didn't even have to see them for breakfast or anything.

It may not have been the smartest routine- he was always tired and hungry now- but it was all he could think of doing. He couldn't ask his friends to help him- they would want to know just why he suddenly wanted to get stronger and they wouldn't let him tell them anything but the truth.

Besides, because he was so hungry, he was able to eat again. Whenever he thought about Shikaku Nara, Asuma Sarutobi, or marriage, that appetite left him… But as long as he controlled his thoughts, he had an appetite that was almost as big as the one he used to have before this shitty situation ever arose.

For the next three days, Kiba actually felt that there was reason to hope again.

* * *

The week after the date with Kiba, Shikaku's lie continued in a rather normal fashion. He would go into the office to work, he would complete all of his paperwork within his own time frame, he would meet up with Inoichi or Choza whenever they were available, and he even managed to squeeze in a couple of hours to just watch clouds between all of that.

His sleep schedule was still somewhat off. And he had been keeping the house much cleaner than he ever would have thought he would ever want to do, seeing how much he had always hated physical labor when it came to keeping things _clean_. But, aside from those little blurbs, everything with him had been pretty regular and okay.

For a time, he had even managed to push the marriage business towards the back of his mind.

He never truly forgot about it. He believed it was impossible to ever be able to forget about something like an arranged marriage. But he was able to ignore it and continue with his life as he if wasn't going to be subjected to marry a male that was half his age.

"… What are we going to do with mom's stuff?"

The hand that had been transporting food to Shikaku's mouth froze in midair. For a few seconds, it hung suspended over the agape mouth. Then the older Nara managed to clear his throat and force the hand down, returning the food back onto its plate so it wouldn't make a mess.

Shikamaru stood at the doorway into the kitchen, already dressed for the day. Which was an odd sight, considering how today was supposed to have been his day off. He had been raving about it for months now… Since before his mother's death… Why would he already be dressed?

Shikaku took a few seconds to think up of a proper answer. Then he shrugged softly, "Donate what's good, keep what's emotional… Throw away the rest…"

Weeks had passed since his wife had been forced away from the land of the living. Weeks that had been spent working and dealing with Clan and Village duties.

Weeks that had been odd in every sense of the word.

The teenager's eyebrows narrowed for a second. The corners of his lips were pulled downwards. And he even breathed in deeply. All signs of forming thoughts.

"And when are we going to do that?"

Even though Shikamaru seemed to want to sound as if he was okay, Shikaku had known him his whole life. And the teenager was undoubtedly trying to put on a brave face in front of his father in the wake of his mother's death.

Normally, he wasn't good with emotions. He wasn't good at understanding others or their actions. He was just good at predicting them.

For once, though, he felt as if he had a good understanding over someone else's feelings. And, because of this, he decided to give an answer he hoped would ease some of his son's worries.

"I'm not ready for that just yet, son."

He knew that Shikamaru would never admit to it. But he could see his shoulders visibly relax because of his answer.

The older male bit back the smile that wanted to force its way onto his lips. Instead he began to eat once more, effectively keeping his lips from betraying him.

Inoichi may just be proud of him… He'd just managed to avoid a major emotional situation all by himself.

* * *

"Yo, Inuzuka! How've the books been treating you?"

Kiba smirked at Kotetsu as the man appeared beside him, a hand finding its way into his hair without his permission.

Apparently, the Hagane Clan, much like the Inuzuka, showed a bit of their comfort with other, usually non-Clan people, by commencing touches and being physically open.

Within the Inuzuka, hugs, tackles, bites, high-fives, and so on were seen as mere common place occurrences among the pack. With others, though, it was a true show of trust. Because, if an Inuzuka allowed you to touch them or even started the touching, it meant that they trusted you almost as much as they trusted their pack.

"Good. But I need a scroll on how to control chakra when I'm underground. Getting stuck down there isn't something I'm looking forward to doing again."

" _Again_?" Kotetsu's hand stiffened on top of Kiba's head and the Inuzuka looked up to find his eyes bulged in shock, "Kid, what in the world have you been doing and should I ask you to stop?"

With a roll of his eyes, Kiba slapped the older male's hand away, "Of course not. I'm alive and well. It was a onetime thing, promise."

Akamaru barked, trying to tell Kotetsu that Kiba was an idiot and should not be listened to. But because regular humans had no idea how to read the Inuzuka dog's bark, Kotetsu had no idea just what his dog was trying to tell him.

It was good that his partner wasn't able to rat him out to regular people they didn't always hang around. Although it was a bother whenever Akamaru tried to snitch on him when Shino or Hinata were around.

Kotetsu seemed as if he were about to ask just what in the world Kiba was talking about and what he had done that had wound up with him underground. But it was at that moment that a familiar scent hit Kiba's nose. And, seeing how Kiba was able to smell him and feel his chakra, Kotetsu was able to feel the chakra signature as well.

Asuma Sarutobi entered the library with his hands in his pockets, a cigarette between his lips, and a bag rested on his right shoulder.

"Hagane!" He called from the very beginning of the hallway the two shinobi and one nin-dog found themselves within, "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

Kotetsu frowned softly and began to make his way over to Asuma, but Kiba stayed in his spot and looked away from Asuma's much too curious gaze.

He didn't know what the man was doing in here. But he didn't like it.

This library had become a sort of safe haven for him. He could come here every morning, sure that he would be able to find a smiling Kotetsu that would find him good books or scrolls to consult, and he could escape from his crappy home for a couple of hours. Having a clear reminder of just why his life had gone to hell so quickly within his little haven… Well, it felt _wrong_.

"I'm working, Sarutobi. I'm helping that Inuzuka over there find some books that'll help in his training."

Kiba had his eyes glued onto the books in front of him, but he wasn't reading any of their titles. He couldn't focus on any of them. He was just staring, seeing how he was focused wholly on listening to Kotetsu and cursing having allowed such a big mouth to help him out.

In retrospect, though… He was sure that if he had asked Kotetsu to keep his interesting in learning a secret between the both of them, then he would have stayed quiet. But he hadn't. So he couldn't really fault the guy for explaining what he was doing away from his desk when a superior came in and questioned him.

"An Inuzuka looking for books?" Kiba knew that Asuma sounded much less interested than he felt- he could _smell_ the curiosity that was wafting off of the man. "Not every day you see that… Anyway, kid, I need you to help me find a book."

Both men then began to speak about a book that Asuma apparently needed to read up on for a mission he was going to be sent on, but Kiba couldn't really bring himself to think of anything else other than the fact that Asuma now knew that he had been learning outside from what Kurenai Sensei taught him.

Maybe this was nothing. Maybe the man would really think nothing of an Inuzuka actually reading rather than learning from trial and error. And maybe the man would do nothing about this little bit of information he had learned from Kotetsu, the Blabber mouth.

But there was a sinking feeling deep within Kiba's stomach that made him feel as if he wasn't lucky enough for such a thing to happen.

..~..~..

As I had worried of happening, my internet wasn't the best yesterday. But I managed to connect today to give you this long-as-all-Hades chapter to be able to make up for the long hiatus!

I hope you all like it! Please do review and tell me what you think of this story!


	8. Chapter 8

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics (mostly Inuzuka related). Power imbalance. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst.

~..~..~..

When Shikaku woke up on Friday morning, it was to find a scroll with his name written on it resting on the pillow beside his head.

Immediately, he worried over why in the world the Hokage would be calling for him so early in the morning. Only ANBU and a small handful of his clansmen were allowed to enter his home as shadows to leave messages for their bosses. And his clansmen tended to respect his privacy, so he had immediately assumed it had been a scroll left on orders from the leader of the Village.

As soon as he had opened it, though, he had been able to see that his assumptions had been incorrect. His Elders had been the ones to send him this scroll; there was no immediate threat to Konoha he would have to worry over.

After he had finished reading the scroll over, Shikaku had not been able to suppress the long groan that left him.

It was _much too early_ to be dealing with _any_ of this.

The Elders had decided that it would be a good idea for him and Kiba to go on yet another date today. And this time, they wanted them to go somewhere a tad bit more public. They wanted people to see them together for more than just an hour or two; they wanted the rumor mill to begin feeding.

Of course, to make their point come across, they had then began to talk about how unseemly it was for him to remain for _too long_ without acquiring another love interest.

For a Clan Head to remain unwed after the death of their first partner was not uncommon. Hiashi had still not been forced to move on and remarry after the death of his first wife and the mother of his only children. But it was also a bit of a lack of honor and respect within the Clan itself if the Elders allowed their Head to stay unwed for too long.

In the days of old, people of high standing that lost their significant other were either forced to remarry instantly or to stay alone for the rest of their lives.

Shikaku was to be wed as soon as the relationship between him and Kiba was accepted and seen as a sort of blessing by the Village. That could take a year, two, maybe even three. But, just as it could take so long, it could also only take a handful of months. People's reactions in this situation were difficult to predict because there were just _so many_ people living within Konoha.

The Elders were hoping for it to be the latter so that he could remarry sooner rather than later. They did not wish for _anything_ to sully the Nara name; especially something they were actively working to fix.

Why it was they thought he needed to wake up with _this_ much Clan bureaucracy bull shit, Shikaku would never truly be able to understand. But their letter was short, simple, and made the point of them wanting their plans to come together without _any_ kind of hiccup.

Shikaku allowed himself a couple of minutes to just glare down at the scroll in his hands, but soon groaned, stood up, and busied himself by burning up the piece of parchment.

Even though he knew Shikamaru respected his personal space, he knew that the smallest slip could cause a house of cards to come tumbling down. The best way to make sure that there was no evidence of the inner workings of the Clan to be found was simply to make it all disappear.

As he watched the scroll burn up on the ground behind his home, Shikaku could not help but sigh heavily and hang his head.

Choza would not be happy. Inoichi would undoubtedly just feel annoying pity. Fridays were supposed to be their day to meet up and catch up on the happenings of their lives. This would be the second time in a row he would miss their usual get-together.

* * *

Eating breakfast with his family was not a pleasant affair. It hadn't been ever since he'd been condemned to marry Shikaku Nara. But the tension in the air this morning was much thicker than it had ever been before. And it made Kiba's already lackluster appetite become virtually nonexistent.

Shikaku... Wasn't as bad as Kiba hoped he would be. The man was kind and seemed to care about what Kiba thought and how he felt. But Kiba could swear there was a dominant streak in him that he had a reason to worry over.

Shikaku Nara was the Head of the Nara Clan. This was the kind of man that was accustomed to having a relatively large amount of control over his Clan Members; his _family members_. So for him to be somewhat controlling only made sense. But what had Kiba worried was the fact that he didn't think Shikaku was aware of how his actions could be taken as by him.

Then again, he'd only ever been around the man twice now. And the only times he'd ordered him to do anything, it had been to get him to eat… So he couldn't really think too much of it… Right?

It was all a big mess, really…

With a heavy sigh, Kiba glared down at the plate of food in front of him.

It wasn't that Kiba didn't want to eat. It was just that he didn't want to eat anything when surrounded by his mother and sister.

They hadn't said anything to him yet. But when he had tried to leave for his usual nightly training the past night, he had been stopped by Hana inviting him to instead go with her to her room and read up on some _proper etiquette manuals_.

His whole night had been spent listening to his sister explain to him which positions were proper for sitting when around those of higher standing and which weren't. He was forced to pay attention to the load of bullshit his sister unloaded on him because the three Haimaru Brothers would snap at him whenever he _didn't_ answer any of her questions correctly. And his mother had lurked in the hallways of their home, acting as if she were busy with other things, even though she had clearly been paying all of her attention to the lessons Hana had been teaching him.

In all, Hana had kept him from his training because she had wanted to school him on how to be a good submissive. And the only reason Kiba had not thrown a fit and started throwing shit all around the study had been that, if he had gone through with those impulsive actions, he would have gotten his ass handed to him by his sister.

Getting hit by his mother had been bad. But he didn't know if he could handle getting a beating from his sister.

Even though he _wanted_ to hate Hana, it was extremely difficult. His sister had always been there for him in the past, even when he had been the biggest idiot in the universe. He held her thoughts of him in the highest regard and he had only ever wanted to make her proud. Because of this, he didn't find it within himself to try and fight her off.

If it had been their mother giving him these lessons, he was sure he would have told her to fuck off without much incident. But they must have known this, because he was sure they had chosen Hana to teach him these things on purpose.

With a suppressed sigh, Kiba pushed at the eggs on his plate with his chopsticks.

All around him were the sounds of the family dogs chowing down on their own meals. And his mother and sister were eating as well, although at a much more sedated pace.

He was the only one that wasn't all that enthusiastic about the food.

"So, pup, what is it you do when you leave in the middle of the night without a single heads up to your pack?"

An undeniable feeling of irritation surged up within him as soon as he heard his mother's accusatory tone.

The reason why he had not told them even the _smallest bit_ about what he did at night was because he made sure to never have to talk to them. But seeing how he had been kept in the house during the night and now had no clear excuse to leave early in the morning (training with Kurenai Sensei was supposed to begin in two hours, so he couldn't even use _that_ ), he was forced to actually spend time with the two women he had been avoiding for a good week.

"Just training…" The male shrugged noncommittally as he mumbled out his answer, then skewered a piece of the eggs to begin to chew on it before his mother tried to pry further.

He hoped that if he had a mouth full of food, the woman would just leave him alone.

In retrospect, it was rather childish of him to have thought that this little plan would have ever worked.

As he struggled to get over the nausea that rose up from his stomach and into his mouth at the very bland taste of the food, Kiba noted that his mother would, unfortunately, continue prying.

"Where?"

He struggled to swallow. But the teenager managed to force the food down into the knot within his stomach. Which he immediately regretted, seeing how he felt overly full and ready to vomit from just that bite.

For the past week, he had been so hungry he had just about resumed eating like a normal teenager. Now, though, with the overly curious eyes of his mother and sister boring into him; nauseating him; he didn't really feel any hunger. _At all_.

"Training grounds…"

Kiba struggled to keep his voice leveled as he struggled to keep control of his stomach. But he managed the feat.

Seconds passed. The nausea began to leave him. Irritation took its place little by little, growing with each moment that ticked on by. The fullness decided to overstay its welcome, though. And that only helped his mood worsen.

"Just what in the world can you do in the middle of the night for training that you can't do during the day?"

Anger flared up within the teenager as soon as he heard his mother's clearly critical question. And he didn't stop himself from narrowing his eyes, lifting his gaze to glare straight at her.

"Why would you even care?" He suddenly snapped, releasing the chopsticks to allow them to fall onto his plate. "You didn't give a single fuck when you sold me to the Nara Clan- you have no right to care now!"

Without a second thought as to what he was doing, or how angry he was making himself, the teen bared his teeth at the woman.

He didn't notice how everybody around the large table, both human females and all the countless dogs, stopped eating.

"I don't need you trying to act as if you care now!" In a fit of unrestrained fury, Kiba slammed his hands down onto the table, sneering at the woman's direction. "I don't give a fuck if my doing _something_ with my life might piss the Elders off! Until I'm married off, I do whatever I want!" He sneered directly at his mother, a mirroring look of disdain on her own face. "And if you think you can tell me _anything_ , I've got one thing to say: You put me in this fucked up situation. You've got no right to tell me what I can and can't do."

All was silent after he had hissed this out.

Not even the dogs that were the quickest to anger responded.

Kiba stormed away instead of waiting around to see if they would _try_ and tell him anything.

~/~

He was hungry.

He was soaked.

He was fucking annoyed.

But most importantly of all, he was _royally fucked._

All Inuzuka had tempers. It was a Clan trait that was integral to their survival, embedded into their very DNA from the second they were conceived. In the past, these very tempers had allowed their ancestors to survive in harsh environments and rise to the top of the food chain. In the present, it was a double edged sword.

Some had good control over their tempers, barely allowed it to get in the way, and they were fine warriors. Others, though, like Kiba and his mother, allowed it to consume them at the worst of times; not all the time, of course… Just when a situation asked for delicate handling- hence, at the worst of times.

… He had never been so pissed off before… Even with the fucked up situation he was in, he had not even struck out at the teammates that _didn't understand_. He'd only lost control of his temper _once_ … Unfortunately, he had acted out to his family. And he just _knew_ there would be hell to pay later.

Really, he couldn't blame himself. His mother had been grilling him. She had just been waiting for him to say the wrong thing to be able to get him in trouble. And he'd hated the fact that she'd questioned him as if he was nothing more than some criminal! So… He'd allowed his anger to get the best of him because of everything going wrong in his life.

Now he was in the middle of a rainy Konoha, wearing nothing more than his mesh undershirt and pants, soaking wet, while his stomach did its best to bother him by tying itself up in hungry knots. He wasn't sure just why he felt like this. But he was both hungry and _not_ hungry. And he fucking hated his life.

Rain pattered around him as it met the ground, falling much too quickly for the earth to swallow it up. Puddles formed as people rushed to get away from the heavy downpour, leaving Kiba to stand in the middle of the market place all alone.

"Least I ain't standin' 'round in my pajamas…" The teenager found himself mumbling out as he lifted his right foot- which was bare because he hadn't thought to stop and grab his sandals- and watched how a drop traveled from the top of the appendage down to his toe.

It hung onto his toe for a few seconds.

But it soon fell heavily and Kiba swore he heard it when it landed on the ground below.

So caught up had the teen been with watching the drop travel down his foot that he didn't notice when a familiar chakra signature neared him. But when a shadow fell over him, clouding the little light he had been able to see, Kiba looked up to find out what had happened.

As soon as his brain matched the man before him to the person he personally knew, the Inuzuka wished he had just kept his attention on his foot.

"Kiba? What are you doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be with your Clan?" The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, questioned curiously. "It isn't usual to see an Inuzuka wandering around town so early."

Kiba could understand why the man thought this. It bothered him, nonetheless. Because, even though he was completely sure that finding him in the middle of a rainy street without any shoes on, especially on a Friday morning, might have been a tiny bit odd, he was annoyed at having to explain himself to the man.

Quietly, the teenager thought about his options.

He could tell the man the truth about why he'd left his house in such a rush, but that would mean having to have a 'heart to heart' with the man about why he was suddenly feeling so suffocated by his family. And because he was sure that he wasn't supposed to be telling the _Hokage_ of all people about the arranged marriage, that just wasn't a viable decision.

Another option was to just blow him off. The Hokage was a busy man; he was supposed to be on his way to work right now. So for Kiba to ignore him and send him off to do the job he was most probably putting off right now wouldn't be so bad. But all that would earn him would be a disbelieving and hurt filled look from the Hokage, and yet another scolding from his mother as soon as she heard about it… Getting chewed out by his mother wasn't anything new. But he seriously didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of Lord Minato's kicked puppy looks. He was literally the only man Kiba knew that could use that look and use it _well_.

And, finally, he could just come up with a lie about what he was doing there at that odd hour. It should have been easy, coming up with a lie. But when Kiba tried to think of something that would sound _good_ and wasn't overly depressing or _honest_ , he came up with absolutely nothing.

"Kiba?"

The teenager frowned softly as Minato took one step closer to him, then looked around his surroundings.

Okay, so he clearly wasn't in the right mental capacity to answer his Hokage. But maybe he'd be able to get away if he was quick enough…

Right as he forced himself to formulate a master escape plan, Kiba ran into the great luck of someone else walking up to him.

Well… _Great_ was a stretch. But it was luck. And it certainly helped him deal with the overly curious and thoughtful Minato Namikaze.

"Good morning, Lord Hokage. Kiba."

* * *

Shikaku had been walking to his office when he ran into Kiba and Minato.

After he had finished dealing with the Elders' message for him and promised Shikamaru to bring some already cooked food for lunch, the Nara had begun his trek towards his office so he could start up on his work day. But midway through his usual commute in the rain, he found himself in front of a very worried looking Hokage and rather anxious looking Kiba.

That boy always looked like a deer caught in a hunter's sights nowadays… At least, that's what Shikaku could see from the two times they had actually met face to face.

The Nara wondered if Kiba himself was aware of the look he always seemed to have on his face. But he didn't point it out; worried that he'd insult the boy by doing so. And the last thing he needed was to have an Inuzuka pissed with him; _especially_ one he was supposed to marry.

It was clear to him that Kiba was looking for any kind of way to get away from the Hokage. He had no idea just _why_ the kid would want this, but it was clear from the alarm within his face. So Shikaku decided to be a good person and walked up to them both so he could be the distraction the teenager was clearly looking for.

"Ah, Shikaku! Good morning! How are you?"

Minato, as always, was smiling broadly and his blue eyes shined brightly with excitement. But there was a worried shadow within them that dimmed that spark. And, after he turned completely to Shikaku, the Nara saw how those very blues flashed over to Kiba for a millisecond before they turned back to looking at him.

"I am good, Lord Fourth." Shikaku answered mildly, keeping a calm look about him to keep the Hokage from suspecting his true reasons for having walked up to them. Although Minato was a simple, oblivious man; he wouldn't really question much, even though Shikaku greeting a teenager wasn't the most normal thing in the world. "And you, Kiba?"

"Good." The boy answered with such a speed that it was clear to the Nara that he was, in fact, _not_ good. "Uh… Say, you need any help with those files? Like last week?"

Shikaku quirked an eyebrow at the line of questioning, but soon understood the meaning behind it.

Kiba _really_ must have wanted a way out from having to speak with the Hokage if he was willing to say such a thing in front of Naruto's father.

The Nara breathed in. Then he nodded sagely, "I'm sure there are a lot more files left in my office now than last night. If you're willing to help, I wouldn't mind your company."

From the corner of his eye, Shikaku could see Minato blinking with stupefied wonder. But then the man was smiling broadly, "Look at that, maybe I'll finally get back those documents I sent you a week ago, Shikaku!"

The files the man had sent him a week ago had already been read, answered, a copy had been filed for safe keeping, and the original returned. But Minato had most probably not found this out yet, seeing how _his_ stack of unread files was still unchallenged in its holding of the title of 'Largest Amount of Unread Files Ever to be Stacked'.

Shikaku didn't tell him this, though. Instead he shrugged lazily and motioned for Kiba to follow him.

"Have a good day, Lord Fourth."

"You too, Nara! And you, Kiba!"

Minato went on his merry way towards his building, back straight and a youthful spring in his step Shikaku found unbelievably tiresome.

As Shikaku moved in the direction of his own destination, Kiba trudged after him at a sedated pace, much slower than Shikaku had grown accustomed to seeing from an Inuzuka. He took shelter from the rain within his umbrella, although he kept a sizeable gap between them both so their bodies would not touch.

They remained silent for a few minutes as they walked. But then Shikaku glanced down at the floor and took true notice of the boy's state. And he couldn't help but wonder just how frazzled the kid must have been to have left his house without any _shoes_ on.

"So… Anything interesting happen to you?" He asked in the hopes of receiving an answer, although he was highly doubtful of getting one.

He heard a hiss from his side. Then a splash from a puddle getting kicked. And, finally, "My family's annoying. I ran out before they could piss me the hell off."

The growl was incensed and completely annoyed. Shikaku wondered just what Tsume could have done so early in the day to make her son so angered. But then he remembered that this was _Tsume's_ kid. So it may have been literally nothing to have set him off like this… If it was nothing, though, it would be troublesome to live with the kid in the future.

… Then again… Kiba had shown some ounce of maturity throughout this whole ordeal… Not much, seeing how he had freaked out when they had been spotted by his friends. But he was clearly aware of how futile it was to try and fight off his Clans' wishes.

Maybe what had him in such a foul mood was something more than just _nothing_.

"Can I ask what it was that they said?"

Kiba hissed once again, "They grilled me on my midnight training sessions! Wanted to know everything and made goddamn mountains out of molehills!"

Quite frankly… Shikaku had not expected Kiba to know of such a saying.

Once he thought this, he chastised himself for having thought so little of the Inuzuka.

"Hmm… Midnight training?" Shikaku hummed thoughtfully, only to receive a small scoff from the kid.

"Don't tell me you're gonna get on my case over that too…"

Shikaku restrained himself from frowning at the petulant tone. Instead of biting back with an answer that would have angered the Inuzuka further, he offered a diplomatic medium, "Sounds interesting."

Kiba didn't say anything after this.

From this silence, it was clear to Shikaku that the kid didn't want to tell him about these little training sessions.

With a small sigh, the man murmured softly, "I'm sorry."

He didn't clarify just what he was sorry about on purpose. He didn't feel apologetic, nor did he feel guilty. He had asked simple questions. But Kiba was already on edge from his family's (most probably) crude questioning methods, so it wasn't really all that surprising for the kid to be so irritated.

After a couple of seconds of silence, he heard the Inuzuka sigh. "… You've got nothing to be sorry about…" Kiba muttered, although his voice still had an angered bite to it. "You're being forced into this marriage just like I am…"

Even though Shikaku was sure they weren't supposed to be saying such a thing in public, Kiba kept his voice low. And as he looked around, Shikaku was comforted to notice that there weren't any prying eyes around to see them. And, seeing how there were no eyes, there were hopefully no ears to listen either.

"It's a sucky situation that I can't get out of. There ain't much more to it."

The resignation in the teenager's voice was disconcerting to hear. But before Shikaku could tell the teen that the situation didn't have to be the _worst around_ , they arrived at the front door of his office building.

"Thanks for saving me back there." Kiba turned to him as he stopped walking, dark eyes filled with an apprehensive sincerity that just didn't look right. "You didn't have to help me with Minato… So, uh… Thanks."

The kid was shaken up, distrustful, and worried. He had bags under his eyes that were so large they reached into the red fangs on his cheeks. And he looked as if he were about to keel over any time soon if he wasn't careful.

"Don't worry about it." The Nara muttered, remembered the date they were supposed to go on later today, and asked, "Have you thought about where you would like to go tonight?"

"Tonight?" The kid parroted dumbly. And it didn't take a genius to know that Kiba had _no_ idea why he had asked such a thing.

Suppressing an exasperated frown, the Nara informed him, "We're supposed to go on a date tonight, Kiba. My Elders left me a message this morning… Did they not leave you anything?"

The teenager's eyebrows furrowed and his eyes glared down at the floor for a couple of seconds. But then he sighed and shook his head, "I didn't stick around for long at my house."

"Your mother most probably knew about this." Shikaku prodded, only to immediately regret his actions.

"Well I'm not very good at listening to my mother, now am I?!"

The sudden bite in his words caught Shikaku off guard. And he stared at the boy without trying to simulate _not_ having been surprised. Because for a second, he wasn't able to see Kiba's face; instead, he had only seen _Tsume's_ face. He had seen a face devoid of any hesitation; a face that was only filled by confidence and irritation.

If Kiba had been so determined to make his point heard, though… Why did the confidence remain in his eyes for only a matter of _seconds_?

The kid's eyes were glued on him, narrowed and angered. But suddenly they lost all of their fire. For a second, all Shikaku could see was pure, unadulterated _fear_. But then Kiba looked away and turned back to the floor, a heavy sigh leaving his lips.

"I… I'm sorry, Lord Nara… I shouldn't have been so rude…"

Shikaku frowned deeply at the apology.

Inuzuka _didn't_ apologize. Not when they were supposed to be angry and annoyed.

Something was off. But Shikaku wasn't able to tell with complete certainty just _why_ it was off.

For the first time in a very long time, Shikaku found himself facing a puzzle he had no idea how to even _begin_ to solve.

"I shouldn't have pried." He offered almost dumbly, but shook his head and offered, "If you would like a safe haven from your Clan, you can stay in my office. There's a couch there. You can rest and think of where you'd like to go."

Something in the back of his head was telling him to not allow Kiba to go off on his own. Not right now. Not with the sudden changes in mood he was exhibiting.

Mood swings were common in teenagers. Maybe this was a perfectly normal reaction, a small voice in the back of his head said. But there was another voice, just as small, that begged him to treat this as an oddity and to make sure that the kid was alright before he tried to do something he might regret later on.

Kiba shuffled his bare feet on the ground as his arms wrapped around his stomach. He was an almost perfect replica of the same teenager Shikaku had spoken with no so long ago within Inoichi's office. And the pose he had adopted made the Nara's frown deepen; something _really_ wasn't right.

"Well… It'd beat having to go back home…" He admitted after a few seconds, "And Akamaru should be able to come find me and bring me some shoes or something… Alright. I'll- I'll stay for a bit."

Inuzuka didn't stutter. Inuzuka didn't keep their eyes from meeting person they were speaking with. Inuzuka didn't apologize. _Inuzuka didn't act like this._

"Come on." He motioned stiffly towards his office's entrance with his head.

He stepped forward, made sure that Kiba was beneath the small cover the awning over the building's door offered so he didn't get any more rain on him, and closed the umbrella before he stepped towards the door and opened it.

* * *

He hadn't been feeling particularly inspired by the time lunch rolled around. Although he _did_ feel a tiny bit better, seeing how he'd had some time to cool off from the irritating events that had transpired throughout the morning.

Screamed at Shikaku… He had screamed at Shikaku… He had screamed at _Lord Nara_.

Kiba just _knew_ that his Elders would somehow find out about how he had lost control and shouted at the man he was supposed to respect and never question. And he knew that it was only a matter of time before they forced him into more bullshit lessons to be able to learn how to be a proper submissive; like they wanted him to be.

He had not meant to lose his cool. He had not meant to scream at the guy; he didn't really want to push on buttons whose existence he wasn't completely sure of. He _really_ didn't want to get on Shikaku's bad side simply because he had been having a crappy morning.

Even though it seemed like Shikaku hadn't been all that bothered by it, Kiba knew that his actions literally meant nothing. He could be nice and all now, but he could turn around any second and snitch on him to his Elders.

With a soft sigh, Kiba patted absentmindedly at Akamaru's head.

Just as he had predicted, the large dog had sought him out with shoes and a change of clothes for him. So Kiba had been able to shed his soaked clothes and put on drier clothes. Although he had been met with a couple of confused stares from some of the shinobi that also worked inside of this building, seeing how it wasn't all that normal to see an Inuzuka in an office setting.

Aside from clothes, Akamaru had also brought news from home. News which said _'When you get back here, I'm going to make you regret ever having been born, you pitiful little shit'_. And Kiba had lamented over this life being his.

Why couldn't he have just been a duck? They lived pretty nice lives… They barely had to worry about anything, really… Nobody had asked him if he had wanted to be a human before he'd been born. He should have had the right to have made a choice: Duck or human? And he would have gladly chosen duck.

He was pulled out from his rather illogical ravings by Shikaku clearing his throat.

"Thought of anything?"

"Mm-mm."

The Nara hummed softly, then Kiba heard the rustling of papers and wheels squealing slightly, most probably being put into use.

"How about we head out? Maybe you'll find something that catches your eye if we walk around a bit."

Kiba frowned at the offer, but huffed out and nodded minutely. Luckily, his frown wasn't seen by Shikaku because his face was firmly hidden in the cushions of the _extremely comfortable_ couch the Nara had within his office.

As he picked himself up from the couch, Kiba could hear Shikaku moving around to leave his office in somewhat pristine conditions. So he stuck around and waited for the man to finally get a move on.

As he waited, he decided to get a look of the office around him.

It was bigger than what was normal for a government official. But that really shouldn't surprise him, seeing how Shikaku was both the Head of a Clan and held one of the highest posts in Konoha hierarchy. Although it wasn't as fancy looking as he would expect from someone with such a job, it didn't have many decorations other than a few paintings and the one very comfortable couch he was currently on. Even though that desk did look pretty pricey…

~/~

They wound up walking around the Village without really doing anything. Kiba hadn't really been feeling up to doing anything, though, so they had wound up just buying a quick lunch before returning to Shikaku's office.

The Nara had warned that the Elders weren't going to be too pleased with that kind of outing, but Kiba merely shook his head and told him that they had been seen walking around for a good two hours; it was _fine._

In reality, Kiba highly doubted it would be fine. But he wasn't about to tell that to the man… He may have just tried to make them go out again if he admitted it.

After they had finished eating their lunch, Shikaku had allowed him to stay inside of the office.

The office was bigger than what was normal for a government official. But that really shouldn't surprise Kiba, seeing how Shikaku was both the Head of a Clan and held one of the highest posts in Konoha hierarchy. Although it wasn't as fancy looking as he would expect from someone with such a job, it didn't have many decorations other than a few paintings and the one very comfortable couch he was currently on. Even though that desk did look pretty pricey...

Staying in there had been awesome for the first hour. But then he had begun to feel antsy… So Kiba had asked the man if he had anything he could help with.

It had been an impulsive question. And as soon as Shikaku had set that questioning, quirked eyebrow on him, Kiba had begun to regret ever having taken up the man's offer to stay inside of his office just to be able to avoid returning home.

But then Shikaku had actually given him something to do. And Kiba had jumped on the tasks of filing all of the different documents, more than happy to be allowed to actually do something with himself other than just despair and hate himself.

So Kiba had thrown himself into the filing job Shikaku offered him. Even though he had never been the kind to enjoy office work- he was an Inuzuka, what kind of Inuzuka enjoyed staying put and just _reading_?-, he did kind of like working on this mindless stuff. It didn't require for him to think too much and it wasn't completely dangerous to mess up. Besides, it wasn't as if he could mess up horribly. All of the classified files were clearly marked like that and the rest were easy enough to put into their own piles.

Because there were enough documents here to rival Minato's own- by a rather large margin, though, there was no helping the amount of backed up documents that man had-, Kiba found himself sitting on the floor to have enough space to work.

Every now and then, Akamaru would point him towards a file that caught his eye and Kiba would put it where he thought it made the most sense. And sometimes he'd take a peek inside of the non-classified ones, just to sate his curiosity, and that usually allowed him to read up on some land dispute that was being had or which jounin was sent on which mission. Aside from those instances, though, Kiba mostly kept himself busy by stacking files so he could place in a proper area for Shikaku's office to acquire some semblance of organization that went further than just 'bunch of files put together'.

The hours went by as he worked. And this time was spent in much more pleasantness than the first hours of his day.

He actually became so comfortable within the office that his eyes began to weigh, a subconscious need to get a good night's sleep beginning to eat at him.

He found himself reading up on a mission Kurenai-Sensei was being considered for when the call for sleep became too much. He fell asleep mid-report.

* * *

Shikaku's notion of time had been somewhat skewed because of all of the 'urgent' reports he had wound up reading while Kiba worked quietly on the floor in front of his desk.

By the time he finally finished reading, though, it was to find the Inuzuka asleep on the floor, all of the documents he had worked on piled neatly up in the different categories he must have assigned them to.

Seeing the kid actually asleep made Shikaku note just how _young_ the kid's face actually was.

It wasn't scarred. It wasn't marred at all. There were no wrinkles of age or stress, and there certainly were no battle scars that showed how experienced he may have been. The kid's skin was mostly unblemished, except for the two large fangs tattoos that served as his Clan's identifying characteristic. And, of course, the heavy bags that had recently taken up residence beneath his eyes.

"Just how long have you gone without getting a good night's sleep, kid?" The man asked quietly, even though he knew that the question would remain unanswered.

When he looked over at the clock, it was to find that it was well past dinner time. And he was hungry… But he was also kind of tired.

There was more work to do- there was _always_ more work to do. He could take the chance and actually get to work on some of the less pressing issues so he didn't wind up with those documents backed up…

Although getting some shut eye himself didn't sound all that bad, if Shikaku was being honest.

Silently, the scarred man opened up the bottom drawer on his desk and pulled out a blanket. Inoichi had placed the blanket in the office after coming in and seeing him asleep at his desk or on the couch one too many times.

The scarred man got up from his chair and silently padded around the desk so he could head over to the couch. He gently covered Kiba under the blanket, satisfied that the teen wouldn't get cold sleeping in the office.

He let out a yawn, absentmindedly thinking about how nice it would be to get a good sleep of his own. He walked back over to his desk and sat back down. And he picked up yet another file, more than aware that he had more than enough work to complete without getting distracted by sleep.

A couple of seconds ticked by in which all he could think about was how nice it would feel to close his eyes... Perhaps Kiba did have the right idea... A nap sounded like a good thing to him.

Softly muttering to himself, the man stood up so he could head over the light switch of the room so he could turn it off. Then he returned to his desk, crossed his arms so he could use them as a sort of pillow, and closed his eyes.

He'd rest for a couple of minutes.

Just a couple, he promised himself.

..~..~..

Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics (mostly Inuzuka related). Power imbalance. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst.

~..~..~..

Inoichi strolled through the halls of the Hokage Tower in the dim grey of morning. He had always been a morning person, which was something he happened to be very proud to have passed onto his own daughter. And even though he knew that the chances of finding Shikaku in his office at this 'godforsaken hour' were rather small, he needed the papers the man had been working on to be able to finally wrap up a difficult case.

After years of having known one another, Inoichi knew what he could expect when he entered the Jounin Commander's office. The man had never been prone to leaving messes, so his office was as pristine as Inoichi's own. Which was a bit of a front, seeing how Shikaku had many files he didn't properly organize hidden with a closet that rested within the wall behind his desk.

The Nara's office felt much less personal than Inoichi's own, though. There were very few personalized items to make the place feel less cold, which was how all offices felt without little trinkets.

Aside from little mess and depersonalized frigidity, there would be the file that Inoichi would need. Shikaku would have left it separated knowing that Inoichi would appear early in the morning to pick it up, eager to continue his work.

Thinking on his best friend, Inoichi could not help but think about the Inuzuka that had been forcefully thrust into their lives.

Kiba's situation was unique and, if Inoichi was being honest, terrifying. He had not been forced into marriage because he had found Yasuko. But he was more than aware that, if not for her, he would have gone down the same road as Shikaku had gone once before and was being forced onto once more.

Forced marriage... It seemed so _cruel_. He was a man that believed that marriage should only be between people that actually loved one another. This whole business of arranging marriages seemed so sleazy and unnecessary- like a dirty secret that the world had not been able to shake free of just yet. And from the way the Elders of both Clans wished to keep their involvement in the relationship a complete secret made it more than clear to the Yamanaka that even they knew that arranged marriages were not seen in as good a light as they had the past.

Shikaku took everything in strides. He'd always had the unbelievable ability to analyze every situation and keep himself in control of his emotions. Even as genin, the Nara had been lucky enough to have such a unique and useful trait. It was because of this that Inoichi knew Shikaku would brave this marriage in the same manner he had braved the past one: Being faithful and respectful, but never forcing himself onto his partner. It was a shame that one of his greatest friends had never been able to experience the amazingly confusing feelings that came from being in love... It seemed so _barbaric_ to Inoichi to deny the man the right to fall in love... And now Kiba was to feel the same.

"They were supposed to go on another date last night..." Inoichi reminded himself out loud, more than aware that there was no out and about at such an early hour to listen to him. "Hope it went better than the first one..."

Shikaku, in all honesty, had never been a good storyteller. He always left out details he deemed unimportant and underplayed things that others would consider pertinent to understand what had happened. But, from what little the man had said of his date, Inoichi knew that there had been unwanted visitors that had seen him and the Inuzuka together. And in a moment of consideration for the boy and not their Clans, Shikaku had lied to try and keep Kiba from freaking out.

There was a protective streak in Shikaku that Inoichi was already seeing. And the blonde could not really blame the other man, for he felt it himself. It wasn't really because of Kiba that he felt it. Instead, it was because when he thought about Kiba's age, he was reminded that this could be _his_ daughter. And if there was one thing Inoichi would never allow to happen to his princess, it was for her to be forced into a marriage by their own Clan. It was just an abusive practice that _should_ die.

The indignation that spiked up within him was quickly pushed down, though. It was not his place to feel this way. This was not his Clan, nor his predicament. He was just an outsider trying to keep Shikaku from seeming _too_ apathetic to his husband-to-be.

His thoughts continued on both Shikaku and Kiba as he walked towards the Nara's office. The Yamanaka was worried, for he had seen how this marriage business had even begun to wear Shikaku down. His best friend had been able to brave one forced marriage... Would he be strong enough to face a second?

The blonde haired man was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't register the two chakra signature inside of Shikaku's office until it was too late.

He threw the door open with more force than was necessary- a bad habit he had been unable to break that he had picked up from Ino in her younger years when she came to visit Shikaku- and it smacked against the adjoining wall. The sound was loud, but under normal circumstances, this would have bothered no one.

Unfortunately, there were two people currently within the room to be surprised by it.

* * *

Waking up was abrupt and unpleasant.

For the first time in a _very_ long time, he had managed to have a _good_ dream. This was something he had not experienced in a rather long time; sure, he had managed to go the last week without dreaming at all. But that certainly didn't count when it came to thinking about good _dreams_.

He had always enjoyed the stories his mind came up with whenever he was asleep. So he'd find himself kind of missing _not_ exhausting himself so he could have dreamless nights. But if he had not done such a thing, he _knew_ his mind would have supplied him with countless vivid nightmares that starred Shikaku Nara and Asuma Sarutobi as the main antagonists.

Yes, those nightmares had inspired him to become stronger and actually learn more than just his Clan's jutsu. But those nightmares were terrifying and offered graphic images of those men that he did _not_ need in his life.

Because of his recent training regime, he had not dreamt at all. Lately he had been so tired that his body chose to shut down completely rather than take some time to conjure up interesting tales for him. But he had not over exerted himself the past day- he'd merely stayed with Shikaku in his office and done regular, boring office work. He had been tired, he had to admit. But not tired enough to wind up completely knocked out.

He had dreamed a good life- luckily, there had been no nightmares to haunt him.

This had been a life where he had been running around with Akamaru at his side. Wind had been flowing through his hair as he had jumped from one tree branch to another without a single care in the world. When he had gotten to his destination, it had been to find his teammates waiting for him. And when they had seen him, they had reminded him of the mission they would be going on and that he needed to make sure that their team leaders was prepared to take them.

He'd found nothing odd about the whole 'team leader' thing and had left his teammates with a whoop as his goodbye. Dream him had been completely okay with running towards the Nara Compound, so conscious him had barely even noticed where it was that the dream had been taking him.

For some reason, he had not been shocked to find Shikaku waiting for him so they could leave. But dream him had felt _normal_ about this, so his mind had not made any significant, conscious connections during the dream.

Inoichi slamming Shikaku's office door violently forced Kiba away from the dream as he and Shikaku began to make their way towards the Village Gates so they could meet up with the rest of Team 8.

The warm happiness that had filled him during his sleep vanished suddenly, leaving him cold and terrified once again.

* * *

The Yamanaka blinked in surprise as a blanketed figure suddenly bolted up from the couch. But, soon enough, the fabric fell down to his lap, showing an alarmed and very confused Inuzuka. He looked from one occupant of the room over to another, trying to gain sense of himself.

What in the world were Shikaku and Kiba doing in here at this hour of the morning?

His gaze was pulled away from Kiba by a muttered, "I've told you not to do that."

Shikaku had apparently fallen asleep on his desk yet again, using his arms as cushioning. His head was twisted over so he could glare at Inoichi with one sleepy eye, still much too groggy from sleep to muster any true bite to the look.

Inoichi was about to reply to the man, but then the teenager on the couch called out, sounding rather panicked to the blonde's ears.

"Oh shit! What time is it?"

"It's still early morning; about six-thirty." Inoichi answered him with a soft smile on his face.

It was rather amusing to see both males looking so disheveled. Seeing Shikaku like this was nothing new, the man loved to nap whenever possible. But Kiba had tried to seem so strong and resilient recently, as if he were trying to show everyone that he wasn't a kid and could deal with what the world was throwing at him... It was refreshing to see him acting and looking like a kid again.

And they had both gotten some sleep. Which was something Inoichi was more than aware as to Shikaku needing. Kiba having to get a good night's rest as well wouldn't have surprised him at all, actually.

"What are you doing here?" Shikaku's voice was gruff and heavy with sleep as he lay his head back down, looking every bit like someone that had just been forced out of a good dream.

"I need the paperwork for T&I." Inoichi resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the man's predictable reactions as he moved over to the desk to grab the correct paperwork.

Just like always, it was left out from the rest with a piece of paper that said 'Yamanaka' attached to it.

… Maybe Shikaku had expected to leave his office for the night and sleep like a normal person... What could have kept him in the office? And with Kiba sleeping on his couch?

Shikaku let out a snort and was undoubtedly about to answer when Kiba suddenly began to panic.

"Oh shit! My mom is going to kill me! Shit! This is not good!" The kid all but screamed in frustration, immediately making Inoichi turn to him in worry.

A frustrated and hyperventilating Inuzuka was almost impossible to deal with. But there was no way that Inoichi would let the kid-

"Calm down and breathe," Shikaku ordered from his spot on the desk, sounding every bit as relaxed as if he wasn't about to witness an Inuzuka panic. "There's no point in worrying if your mom hasn't hunted you down yet."

The kid's face had been one of pure fear when Inoichi turned to look at him. And it remained like that for a few seconds after Shikaku had spoken, but... Much quicker than the Yamanaka thought possible, all of the tension left Kiba's body and he slumped onto the couch, eyes closed as he breathed in deeply.

"You're... You're right..." Kiba forced himself to take deep breaths, most probably trying to calm his speeding heart. "If she's not ripping my head off right now, it means she's not completely pissed..."

Inoichi heard a small noise of approval from Shikaku and turned around, only to find the man with his head still in his arms.

… For all of Shikaku's intelligence... The man sure lacked tact.

Breathing out softly as he shook his head, Inoichi looked back at Kiba to make sure he was fine. His chest rose and fell quickly, a sign of his still lowering heart beat. Aside from that, though, the kid looked fine. Even if there was a small frown on his face that Inoichi wished wasn't there.

He looked so sad all of a sudden.

A few seconds of complete silence passed. Inoichi stood there, wondering what he might be able to do to help ease Kiba into this marriage, when Shikaku suddenly groaned and got up from his chair.

"Hey, kid." He called, moving to the front of his desk as he stretched and popped his tense bones. Kiba cracked one eye open, closed it to let out a short yawn, then finally opened them both to look at the man. "Are you hungry?"

The boy seemed to think for a moment, then looked down at his lap. His hands grabbed at the cloth, pulling it up so that he was covering up his body once more.

Shikaku's office was a bit colder than usual, Inoichi noticed. How odd.

"I could eat a bit, I guess."

Shikaku's face wasn't harsh, but he wasn't smiling either. And now Inoichi could see what the man had meant when they'd talked about Kiba maintaining eye contact.

Maybe he could get Kiba and him talking more naturally with a bit of coaxing...

"Yasuko wouldn't mind making you both breakfast, if you'd like." The blonde offered with a small smile, "She loves to cook. Especially when there's a new mouth to get critiques from."

Yasuko was worried about Kiba, too. She called it her mothering instinct. Whenever there was a kid in peril, she wanted to do as much as possible to help. Inoichi found it endearing and loved her for her big heart. Shikaku called them both nosey for this, though.

His offer was met with silence by both other males. Inoichi looked at Shikaku, expecting his best friend to agree easily enough. If not because of his hunger, then to not have to make or buy food for the undoubtedly hungry teenager.

"Don't work Yasuko so ragged, Yamanaka." Inoichi was caught off guard by the answer. "Kiba, how about you come over to the Nara Compound? I'll buy you some food before I walk you back home."

It was a shock to not have his lazy friend immediately agree to free food. But when Inoichi turned to look at Kiba, he found that some of that shock left him.

The kid looked _grateful_.

He hadn't really eaten much when he'd first been at his house, had he? Yasuko didn't know, but Inoichi did. And in most places, that would be considered an insult. Kiba was a good kid. He most probably didn't want to cause any more insult onto Yasuko by not eating more of her food. He was worried about hurting his wife's feelings.

"That sounds good." The kid whispered, and Inoichi decided that he had spent enough time with these two.

"Oh well... Guess you'll just have to come around later on. Yasuko really did enjoy your company, Kiba. She now wants to adopt a dog because of how charming Akamaru was." He smiled at Kiba, sent one wink over at him as he finished speaking just to send the message of him being in good and jovial spirits, then saluted at Shikaku. "Thank you for the reports. I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

Shikaku breathed in and out dramatically, "It's already been a month? So troublesome..."

"Yes." The Yamanaka answered simply and turned around, then headed towards the door. "Remember that you need to bring the meat this time. If you don't, it won't be me on your ass-"

"It'll be the Akimichi's. I know. It's happened before." The Nara sighed dramatically, then waved Inoichi off. "I'll see you then."

The actions were so _Shikaku_ that Inoichi felt that things were somewhat the same, even though they had changed so much.

No matter what life threw at him, Shikaku could handle it. And with a man like him helping him along, Inoichi was sure that Kiba would deal with marriage extremely well.

With these optimistic thoughts in mind, Inoichi opened up the file left for him by Shikaku to make sure that all of the information Ibiki required was held within.

* * *

 _Goddamn Yamanaka._

Shikaku loved Inoichi. He truly considered him to be a great friend; a man that competed with only Choza Akimichi to be considered one of Shikaku's greatest confidants. They had years' worth of memories- had spent so long together they knew _too much_ about one another.

For all of the love Shikaku had for the blonde, though, there were times when he doubted the reasons as to why he kept him around.

 _So loud_ , the Nara found himself dismaying as he walked beside Kiba towards a nearby eatery. _Loud and such a morning person_.

Sleeping at his desk was nothing new, so neither was the stiffness in his joints that came from this. But just because he was accustomed to both of these things, it did not mean he enjoyed them. Just like he did not like being woken up in such an abrupt manner so early in the morning.

"Is…" Kiba spoke up for the first time since he'd calmed down after his abrupt awakening, "Is he usually like that?"

They had left Inoichi in Shikaku's office minutes ago. The Nara had asked him to lock up- Inoichi and Choza both had copies of his keys- and left with Kiba so the kid could get some food into him before he returned to his Clan's Compound.

Quite frankly, Kiba _did_ have reason to worry over how his family would take his outburst. He'd been rude, brash, and irrational. A scolding was most probably deserved, if just to get him to understand that he could not allow himself to succumb to his emotions. At least, he could not afford to do that any longer. Not with his Clan's Elders looking in on him with extreme interest. A beating might be over kill, but this was the Inuzuka Clan...

Sighing softly, the Nara nodded. "He's always had a bad habit of being overly annoying and peppy in the mornings."

The Inuzuka waited a couple of seconds to reply. And because of this pause, Shikaku assumed that Kiba was going to say something about how this had been a horrible morning or that he did not want to head back to his Clan. Those would have been two things he would have expected to come from him, seeing how dramatic the past morning had been for him.

What the kid said caught Shikaku off guard.

"Ew… Morning people…"

Shikaku quirked an eyebrow over at the kid, "Weren't you the one that went out on walks during the mornings with Akamaru?"

"Yeah, I was. But there's a difference between me getting up early to walk my dog and run around and do something _fun_ ," The kid explained, turning to look at Shikaku with eyes full of honesty, "And the weirdoes that get up early and enjoy _working_."

He couldn't believe it.

They agreed on something.

Shikaku smiled softly at the Inuzuka and nodded, then thrust his hands into his pockets. "They're a different kind of weird."

"Don't think they're even human."

"Not at all." He answered back with a small smile forcing itself onto his lips.

Huh… Kid was at least correct in his view about getting up early to work.

~/~

They wound up eating their breakfast together at a small eatery near Shikaku's office. It was a nice little place that opened early to give early risers access to delicious and warm food before they went on their merry ways to work. Maybe in largely civilian populated areas, this would not have been the wisest business model. From what Shikaku knew, most civilians cooked well enough to sustain themselves, if only for breakfast. But seeing how this was a Village that ran rampant with shinobi that paid more attention to methods of killing than how to survive during mundane moments, offering delicious early breakfast was rather intelligent.

After they had ordered, both males made their way towards one of the corner tables.

Shikaku, although not as paranoid as other of his fellow shinobi, enjoyed having a clear view of whichever place he found himself within. From his seat with his back against the wall, he was able to see just about everyone and everything that happened to be inside of the eatery. He did not know just why Kiba allowed it, but the kid sat to his left and had an almost complete look of the place.

As they waited for their food, Shikaku heard Kiba sigh.

"I… I'm sorry."

As soon as he'd heard the words, Shikaku had been stunned.

"Why?" He asked, then prodded, "You've done nothing wrong."

The kid didn't look directly at him, instead keeping his gaze on the hands he had clasped together over the table, "You slept at your desk. Because I fell asleep, you didn't go home. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I'm-"

"Kid, I'm used to falling asleep at my desk." The Nara allowed a loose smile onto his lips to try and show the kid that he wasn't angry; not even annoyed. "And I was pretty tired too. My plan was to let you sleep for a while and wake you up when I finished with the bulk of my paperwork."

For a flash, curious brown eyes looked up at him. But they soon glanced down at the table and Shikaku struggled to keep a smile on his face. A frown of confusion wanted to make its way onto his lips. But he fought it off; worried that Kiba might have taken it the wrong way if he began to frown.

"Really? You didn't finish your work?"

Leaning back into his chair, Shikaku hummed as a yes. Then, he said, "I decided to get some shut eye- just for a little bit… Next thing I know, Inoichi's throwing my office door open and waking me up." He finished with an exasperated groan and a shake of his head, "Why I keep that Yamanaka around sometimes eludes me…"

It wasn't a comment he would have told someone he didn't feel comfortable around. Shikaku was more than aware that this was the kind of comment one would make around friends. And if not around friends, then around someone there was some semblance of trust around.

He didn't know if Kiba fell under either of those categories.

But the chuckle he heard coming from the Inuzuka after he had said this let him know that it was appreciated by him.

Silence fell over them after this. It wasn't tense or uncomfortable, though. If anything, it was a pleasant sort of silence that had _not_ been the kind of silence around them before.

It was kind of nice, actually.

When their order was called, Shikaku stood up to get it. And when Kiba tried to follow after him, he merely shooed the kid off and told him to sit back down, he could carry the tray of food without any trouble.

* * *

How he had been forced to wake up had been kind of overly dramatic; even a bit traumatizing.

From a comfortable sleep where he'd been happy and content, he'd been suddenly forced to wake up because of a harsh crash and a much too energetic morning person. He wasn't sure just how someone could wake up like that and not feel the _slightest_ bit unsteady. But he knew that as soon as his mind had caught up with his body and the hour, he'd begun to freak out.

He had been out of his house for almost a whole day. Once seven hit, it would officially be a solid twenty four hours since he had lashed out at his family and run away.

Seeing how his family was _his family_ , he believed he had a very good reason to freak out as soon as he had figured out how much time he had spent outside of his house.

Sighing softly, Kiba allowed himself one kind thought, _at least Shikaku had been kind enough to buy him food_.

He was pretty sure that his Elders would have something to say about allowing the Nara to buy his food. He was pretty damn sure that they would tell him that he needed to supply Shikaku things that would make him happy- not the other way around. Because, in their sick and twisted minds, Kiba was pretty sure they believed he needed to do everything to make the relationship work.

The fucks he gave about what the Elders thought at this current time, though, were nonexistent.

As he waited for Shikaku to come back with their breakfast, Kiba busied himself by pondering over what he'd need to catch up on so he wouldn't fall behind on his nightly training.

Two nights had been missed because of the situation: First because of Hana and her annoying lessons, then because of the date with Shikaku and falling asleep in his office.

Two nights meant that he needed to study up on the techniques he'd needed to work on the last time he had managed to train- even though traversing across the ground was becoming easier, it was still a bitch to do; and now that he had not practiced for two whole nights, he worried he would have to start learning all over again.

Aside from that, he still had a bit of residual anxiety biting at him because of his abrupt awakening. But it was simply because Inoichi had jolted him out so violently from his sleep that it just wouldn't be normal if he still didn't feel anything.

"Maybe I'm just cursed to continue waking up horribly for the rest of my days…" Kiba lamented as he laid his head down on the table in front of him, only to then cover it with his arms.

"So dramatic? And at this hour? My, my, Inuzuka, you're beginning to sound too much like your mother."

"Wha-?" Kiba glanced up from the table, surprised to find someone other than Shikaku speaking to him.

Kakashi-Sensei's much too amused eye stared back at him.

Akamaru barked at him from the doorway and Kiba noticed that he'd kind of left his best friend behind in his confusion during the morning.

"I found that lost little dog wandering around Konoha." The Hatake offered as he made his way to stand beside Kiba, looking down at him with his hands placed in his pockets. "I believe he may think you abandoned him."

Kiba pursed his lips at his words, then glared over at the bouncing dog, "Oi! You're the one that got lost!"

Akamaru sat himself by Kakashi's feet and immediately the man's right hand found its way into his fur. Once he was sure that he would receive some sort of pets, the dog turned to Kiba with a growl.

The teenager glared at the dog, crossed his arms over his chest, and huffed. "I woke up like a half hour ago, mutt. You weren't there with me. So, yeah, I didn't wait up for you to return."

Apparently, Akamaru had made his way out of Shikaku's office so he could go on his daily run. He'd been _nice_ enough to let Kiba sleep, rather than wake him up so they could go together, and he couldn't believe this was how the Inuzuka repaid him!

The Inuzuka bared his teeth at his partner, unwound his arms to poke him in the forehead, and turned his face away as Akamaru growled back at him. "You were the one that chose to be a big dog and leave without your human partner. Don't get angry with him if he leaves you behind; fully expecting you to know how to make your way back to him."

He felt kind of guilty over having forgotten about his partner, but he refused to let Akamaru know. If he did, the animal would then guilt trip him into wasting all of his money on the dog's favorite cuts of meat. And the last time that had happened, Kiba had been left without any sort of money until he went on his next mission.

Akamaru growled for a little while longer, then huffed and walked over to him to bump his head against Kiba's thigh. The human smirked softly down at him and lowered his arm to pet him as well.

"You're an annoying ball of fur, but I still love you."

The dog bit his hand softly, sneezed, and made himself comfortable beside Kiba's chair.

Now that the argument had been finished, Kiba could hear Kakashi-Sensei chuckling at them. So he turned an unamused glare on the Hatake and asked, "What's so funny?"

"I forgot how entertaining it could be to be around you two." The man admitted, then pointed over at the vacant chair to his left, silently asking if he could sit down.

Kiba glanced over to the counter to try and find Shikaku, but only found people he didn't know. He wasn't sure just where the Nara had gone, which was odd, because he could _smell_ him.

Sighing softly, Kiba told himself that nothing bad could happen to him just for letting someone sit with him while the Nara came back.

He nodded, Kakashi's eye showed off the smile he hid behind his mask, and the Hatake sat down.

They remained in silence for a little bit, but then the man spoke up once more.

"Haven't seen you around much when I'm in the Village."

Kiba smirked softly at what he said, his Hatake translator working just as good as it had in the past.

 _Where have you been?_

"Here, there, everywhere."

 _Keeping myself busy while this whole murder business cools down._

The man nodded slowly with a hum, "I've gone on a couple of missions myself."

 _Nothing exciting in the outside world either, you haven't been missing out on much_.

Sometimes, Kiba marveled at how good he had gotten at reading into Kakashi's really minimal words. But then he remembered that he'd just about grown up with the guy, seeing how he was usually always around Naruto. And there was also the fact that Kakashi had always had a soft spot for the Inuzuka Clan, just like the Clan had always seen him as yet another member.

With a soft sigh, Kiba stretched his arms out and above his head, "It's been pretty boring here too."

A beat of silence passed in which Kiba stretched his neck out to try and find Shikaku once more. But it was only to smell the man, not see him. Then Kakashi called the teen's attention back to him.

"Has the library been treating you well?"

Kiba's blood ran cold.

He kept his gaze away from Kakashi, trying to seem as if he was casually looking around the establishment rather than wondering what the best escape route he could take might have been.

How did Kakashi know about his library escapades? Was he even supposed to know? ... Did Kiba even have to worry about Kakashi knowing? It wasn't as if this was anything bad... Sure, he wasn't the kind to find solace in books... So for him to actually willingly spend time in the library might make some think that something had happened to him to make him use books... But...

"Hagane's pretty entertaining to be around." He muttered neutrally, keeping his eyes far away from Kakashi's inquiring own.

"That he is." Kakashi muttered softly, "Kid..."

Kiba knew that tone. It was the exact same tone of voice Kakashi had adopted when he'd been forced to tell Kiba why he couldn't use wolves in battle when he'd been five years old. It was the exact tone that he'd used when he'd told him about the disastrous mission Team 7 had gone on that had left them all in the hospital. And it was the exact tone Kakashi had used when he'd asked Kiba if he truly wanted to be a great ninja, rather than a _normal_ one.

It was a tone of voice the man only ever adopted when he wanted to talk about something serious.

Kiba couldn't handle this right now.

"Hey, have you thought about talking to Team 7 about a joint training exercise with Team 8 again?" He asked suddenly, hoping to throw Kakashi's intentions off enough for Shikaku to get back to the table.

But he still couldn't see the Nara.

"That'd be interesting to see again." Kakashi offered.

Suddenly there was a hand on Kiba's arm, causing him to jump and snatch it away as soon as possible.

Kiba stared through widened eyes at the equally shocked Hatake.

"Kid, what's going on with you?" Kakashi questioned, eye narrowing as it suddenly hardened.

He wasn't beating around the bush anymore. He was looking for a frontal assault and Kiba doubted he'd be able to stand up to it.

"I tried to find you over at the Clinic to speak to you, but Hana told me you hadn't been there to visit in a while. That's nothing like you."

It was suddenly rather hard to swallow, Kiba found.

"And I've heard about your nightly training regime... If you're so eager to learn new tricks, why didn't you just ask for my help?" He asked with a harsh, yet somewhat hurt tone.

Kiba didn't answer.

He couldn't.

What was he supposed to tell the Hatake? _The truth?_ No, he couldn't do that. If he did, he'd put his whole Clan in jeopardy. Arranged marriages were frowned upon in Konoha, and the Hokage could take action against those Clans practicing it if he deemed the practice to be abusive and intrusive.

(All of this he had learned from Hana and his mother during the weeks after he'd been told he'd marry Shikaku. He'd filed it away to forget. But it was hard to keep that sort of information forgotten when it continued to climb back into the forefront of his mind.)

"Hagane told me about the Headhunter jutsu."

It felt as if his heart was caught inside of Kakashi's icy grip.

Kiba forced his head down so he wouldn't have to look at the man.

What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? What could he...

He'd never been so happy to smell Shikaku's scent or hear his footsteps.

"Sorry for taking so long, kid. They screwed up your order and tried to tell me that you hadn't asked for so much meat." Shikaku's voice was somewhat apologetic, yet completely normal.

Kiba glanced up from the floor to look at him with a completely grateful look on his face. He wasn't ashamed of letting the Nara know that he'd saved him; he was just happy that he wouldn't have to deal with Kakashi's insistent questions anymore.

The Nara walked up to him with a tray full of food in his hands. His face seemed completely okay and composed, but there was an underlying smell of confusion that permeated his scent that let Kiba know he was fully aware of Kiba's discomfort around the Hatake.

He felt kind of bad because he knew that Kakashi could smell his worry and fear. But he couldn't think about that now.

"That's okay. I'm just happy to get some food, Lord Nara." His smile was strained but Shikaku didn't comment on it.

Instead he placed the tray down on the table and looked over at Kakashi. "Good morning, Hatake."

"Lord Nara." Kakashi nodded tensely, although his eye never left Kiba.

The teenager dug into his food to avoid having to speak again and Kakashi took that as his que to leave.

"I'll see you later, kid. Lord Nara."

Kiba's chewing halted as soon as he heard the sentence, although he tried to force himself to seem _somewhat_ normal.

 _We're going to finish talking about this, Kiba, like it or not._

..~..~..

Hope you all enjoyed this! Please remember to review and tell me what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics (mostly Inuzuka related). Power imbalance. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Just saying, you'll hate the Elders some more. They're mean.

~..~..~..

They ate in silence for the first couple of minutes.

Shikaku's curiosity bit at him throughout that time, begging him to try and find out just why it was that Kiba was so uneasy around Kakashi Hatake.

From what he had heard, the Hatake and Inuzuka Clans had actually been rather friendly before the Hatake's numbers had dwindled and died out. Kakashi, although not the most friendly of people, had managed to make friends with Tsume Inuzuka- in a feat that still left many stunned and stupefied. So it was only safe to assume that Kiba had grown up around Kakashi.

If the kid knew the Hatake, though… Why did he look as if he was terrified of Kakashi tearing his head off?

"Kiba," Shikaku called his name so he could grab his attention and ask what he wished to find out.

The kid beat him to the punch by speaking up just as Shikaku said his name.

"Kakashi-Sensei might be able to figure out about this marriage by himself." He whispered, although he leaned forward so Shikaku could hear him.

As soon as he heard this, Shikaku wanted to tell the kid that there was no way Kakashi would spend enough time investigating them. Just like the Hatake wouldn't waste his time digging into issues that weren't his own- it just didn't sound like something someone like _Kakashi Hatake_ would do; if anything, it sounded like something Anko Mitarashi or even Tsume herself would waste their time on.

He kept himself quiet, though, and merely looked down at Kiba with a quirked eyebrow.

Kiba maintained eye contact for a solid second, then looked down at the table and frustrated Shikaku yet again.

Just what was it about _him_ that made the kid look away?

… Could it be the scars? Did they scare him?

Well, that answer made _some_ sense… if not for the fact that Kiba had grown up around clansmen littered with scars that were a thousand times more vicious than his own.

"He's asking questions already, Lord Nara. And he's seen us while we've been out twice; it won't take him long to start asking just why we're both spending so much time together."

Shikaku crossed his arms over his chest as he closed his eyes, thinking carefully over what the kid was saying.

Yes, Hatake had been able to see them twice. The first time had been at Kiba's favorite restaurant. Now he had seen them together in here. But both times, the interactions he and Kiba had embarked on had been pleasant and rather normal; there had not been anything odd or even slightly worrying about their body language. So there would have been no reason for Kakashi to worry, right?

"Kakashi-Sensei has known me from before I was even born. He's seen me grow up and has had his fair share in helping me learn how to be a ninja. _And_ he's considered to be an honorary Inuzuka; he may never show it, but he actually cares deeply for all of us Inuzuka." Kiba continued with a sigh, learning back into his own chair in a silent promise to Shikaku to not mention the arranged marriage again. "He's already asking questions."

"What kind of questions?"

Kiba huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

From the frown- which almost looked like a pout, but Shikaku was sure the Inuzuka would not appreciate that being pointed out- the kid wore, the way he carried himself, and the fact that he had not made a single move to reach back for his food after sitting back, Shikaku could tell that he didn't really want to answer his question.

It took a couple of seconds. Shikaku busied himself during those silent seconds by finishing his food, even though he knew he would not be leaving until Kiba had finished himself. Because there was no way he was going to allow the kid to waste himself away by neglecting to eat.

With a heavy huff, Kiba kicked at the floor once and said, "He wants to know what's been up with me recently." Keeping his gaze down on the table, he avoided all eye contact with the Nara… _Again_. "Why I've been around the library recently… why I'm not around the Village as much as before."

 _Library_?

Shikaku was caught off guard by this single word.

The only sentence he had ever heard an Inuzuka say in which they were the main protagonist and 'library' was an important word had been just _one_ : "I hate that fucking library and I'm never going back there ever again!"

For a moment, he wondered what the best course of action might have been. Shikaku was more than aware that Kiba didn't want to admit to something. He was keeping something secret, although he couldn't say he understood why. Especially seeing how it had to do with a place as mundane as the library. But he also wanted to be able to understand just why it was that the kid was so wary of Kakashi; why he was so worried that the man would be able to figure out what had been going on.

"Why the library?"

Kiba breathed in, closed his eyes, and breathed out. Then, "I've been reading up on different kinds of earth style jutsu."

It didn't take a genius to figure out just why it was the kid was learning. There was no point in reading up on any kind of jutsu if it wasn't for the eventual use of it in battle. What Shikaku couldn't understand, though, was why it seemed that Kiba acted as if he had to hide; why he looked ashamed in admitting to it.

"Alright…" The man murmured, "Have you begun to practice what you've learned?"

Kiba swallowed deeply and there was a light sheen of sweat on his forehead that bothered Shikaku.

"Kid, I'm not interrogating you." He was surprised when Kiba finally looked at him with disbelief and distrust clear in his eyes, "Whatever you tell me doesn't matter." He frowned, though, when Kiba's own frown deepened. "What are you worried about?"

His mouth opened for a second, but then his jaw seemed to lock and he forced his mouth to close once more.

Kiba looked a lot like Shikamaru had when he'd accidentally broken one of Yoshino's favorite vases while she had been out grocery shopping. It had happened years ago, but Shikaku could still remember the scene as if it had occurred before his eyes just yesterday. His young son had avoided all eye contact with him because he had feared- for a reason beyond Shikaku; he'd never been prone to anger so he knew his son had never seen him angry before that moment and not even afterwards, actually- that his father would punish him severely.

Maybe this was the reason why Kiba was so insistent on keeping his eyes away from Shikaku's own? It would make sense, actually… If he was worried that anything he did might piss the man off, then Shikaku had managed to finally figure out that mystery.

Breathing in, Shikaku closed his eyes to think about his course of action.

Shikamaru had been eight years old when this had happened. But he had always been a smart kid. So talking to him had not been difficult at all and Shikaku had been able to make him understand that he wouldn't shout or get angry with him just because he had made a mistake.

Kiba was sixteen years old and more than intelligent enough to be able to rationalize and understand. Talking to him should be easy.

"If you're worried about getting in trouble, you're worrying over something that won't happen." Shikaku opened his eyes to gage Kiba's reaction, only to find him glaring down at the table once more.

He had never thought he'd ever wish to make eye contact with someone as much as he wanted to do with Kiba. Why couldn't the kid just look him in the eyes?

"Whatever you do on your own time doesn't bother me. Heck, whatever you do around me won't bother me as long as you don't annoy me too much. And, quite frankly, you've done a good job of that."

Even though Kiba didn't look up, Shikaku was able to tell that his words struck a chord within him. His body language softened just minutely: his shoulders drooped a fraction, his neck allowed his head to hang loose rather than tensely, and his arms seemed to lose some of the tension that had been holding them against the table.

"It's… It's just extra training… There's nothing bad about it, really…" The kid whispered, forcing Shikaku to strain his hearing, "Only problem is that I do it at night."

"Night?" Shikaku repeated, then prodded in curiosity. "How late?"

 _This_ might explain why it was that Kiba thought he'd get in trouble.

Extra practice wasn't anything to worry over. If anything, Kiba should have been proud of taking his own measures to be able to get stronger and learn more. But if he was doing it at an hour of night that his family didn't approve of, then that _would_ be somewhat troubling.

Although this still didn't explain why he wanted to avoid telling Shikaku any of this.

"… Later than midnight…"

Leaning back in his chair, Shikaku nodded to himself.

Okay. He now understood. Kiba was terrified that Shikaku would be the one to get him in trouble.

"Learned anything?"

The teen's answer was slower this time around. But Shikaku chalked that up to being caught off guard by his curiosity.

"Well… Uh… Yeah. I can handle some of the basics. But I haven't been at this for too long- a week isn't really that much time."

Nodding softly, the Nara opened his eyes to smile at the Inuzuka, "You don't have to worry about me telling on you, you know. As long as you're happy and don't hurt yourself, I've got no reason to sell you out to anybody." The kid blinked at him with completely stupefied disbelief. But soon Shikaku sighed and began to pick up his trash, "Although I've enjoyed my time with you, I think it's about time you returned home."

As he moved, Shikaku could hear nothing other than the sounds surrounding him. But he wasn't able to pick up any movements on Kiba's part. Which did not surprise him at all.

"Would…" The kid cleared his throat and Shikaku looked at him to find Kiba looking away from him. But there was a rather red tint to his face that Shikaku wasn't sure he could fully attribute to his tattoos. "Would you mind going with me?"

He had nothing better to do.

… Well… He _did_.

But returning to his office or having to make the long trek back to the Nara Compound just to face eager and annoying Elders didn't really sound all that pleasant at the moment. And Kiba had asked if he could take him, which meant the Inuzuka wanted him to go.

"Not at all." He smiled softly but made a show of point at the kid's half-eaten food, "Although you should deal with that first."

The kid frowned down it but made an effort to actually finish it.

* * *

When they arrived at the Inuzuka Compound, it was to find his mother talking with one of the Elders. Both women looked as if they were arguing- their eyes were narrowed and the frowns on their lips were heavy. But when he and Shikaku reached the entrance; right at the threshold between Konoha and Inuzuka territory; they turned to them.

"Oh, Kiba… How pleasant it is to see you again." The Elder smiled with a forced politeness that made the Inuzuka want to sneer at her.

She was only acting as if she were happy to see him because Shikaku was here. If not for him, Kiba was sure she would have ripped into him as soon as she had seen him. Which was actually the reason why he had asked him to accompany him back to his Compound: he knew his mother and Elders wouldn't kick his ass in front of someone that wasn't from the Clan.

"And Lord Nara." She turned all of her attention on the Nara, effectively making a point of wanting to ignore Kiba, "How went your date?"

"Ah come off it, Chifuyu." His mother rolled her eyes before she turned to the Jonin Leader with a dangerous, almost threatening, glint in her eyes, "I'm guessing the pup spent all yesterday with you?"

"Yes." The Nara answered, turning to motion to him. Kiba kept his eyes locked on the ground between Tsume and him, though, more than aware that he should not look _any_ of the people around him in the eyes at the moment. "He helped me begin to straighten up my office."

Looking someone in the eye was reserved for equals, questioning of dominance, or _specific_ displays of submission. If Kiba were to look at any of the three around him directly in the eyes, he'd get his ass handed to him by his mother. He needed to show to _all_ of them that he _did_ understand his place in the Inuzuka hierarchy. Just like he understood his place in the marriage he was being forced into. Maybe if he let them know he understood, they wouldn't be _too_ pissed off with him…

As he dug his hands into his pockets, he heard his mother's answer. And her tone made him wince, for it was tensed and feigned ease, which let him know she had yet to forget about the past morning's outburst. "Spending time together? That's good."

"Indeed it is." The Elder cut in quickly before either of the others could say anything else, "We received word of your rather short date, but hearing that you two were together for so long makes up for that… Tell me, did anyone see you?"

Shikaku waited patiently for Kiba to answer. The teenager knew this because a Nara always had an answer. But he had been raised to know when he should speak up and when he should stay quiet. And unless a question was directed specifically for him, he should not say a single thing; especially when he was on thin ice with those older than him.

He heard the man sigh softly and his clothes ruffle as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Lord Yamanaka and a couple of couriers. Along with those that saw us walking around together."

"How 'bout this morning?" His mother questioned and Kiba could just _feel_ her gaze on him.

He wasn't going to say anything, though. Shikaku clearly had a handle on the answers. And all of the thoughts currently occupying his mind screamed at him to question just why they thought this marriage was a good idea- which clearly wasn't the sort of thing his mother or the Elder wanted to hear. So he kept quiet.

"By a couple of ninja; yes. And some civilians and shopkeepers."

"Good, good… It seems that at least _one_ of you understands his duties." The Elders words were harsh and critical, clearly aimed at him.

He would never say it out loud, but _that_ had hurt.

Why was _he_ always the bad guy in these things? Why did life make it its mission to fuck with his feelings all the time? Didn't it have anything better to do other than just make his life a living hell?

For a moment, all was silent. Kiba could smell the indecision that suddenly washed over Shikaku, which meant that his mother and Elder were able to as well.

Just what the indecision might have been about, Kiba would not find out. His Elder announced her departure just when Shikaku finally smelled of surety.

"It was a pleasure to see you again, Lord Nara. And, pup," Because he had been addressed, Kiba knew he had to make eye contact. So he glared directly into the old hag's eyes, silently screaming out everything he should never voice. "Do not embarrass your Clan."

He wasn't able to stop his lips from curling into a sneer at the woman's scathing tone. Even though he desperately wanted to seem docile- just to try and save himself from too harsh a punishment-, he wasn't able to accept so much distrust lying down.

The pompous shrugging off he received in return let him know that the hag didn't give a rat's ass about what he felt.

So he turned his eyes down to the ground once more. Even though his fists tightened within his pockets- so much so that he swore he cut through skin… _Again_.

 _Damn_.

* * *

It had not felt right, being beside Kiba as the Inuzuka Elder tore into him. Because there was no other way to describe it- the female Elder wanted her words to scathe the teenager. Which felt unbelievably _petty_ to him, but Shikaku knew it wasn't his place to speak out against her own words. Clan relations were difficult to understand and dangerous to try and mess with. Sometimes, it truly was better to just remain quiet. Although, if he continued witnessing such attacks, Shikaku wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep completely quiet. The treatment bordered on abusive, really.

Once the old woman was gone, Tsume turned her eyes onto her youngest son with a single-minded determination that promised confrontation.

Shikaku knew it wasn't his place to intervene. But he also knew that staying around ensured that Tsume would at least not do anything too hasty to get back at the son she undoubtedly thought to be unruly and out of his place.

"Listen kid, I'm not happy with the shitty stunt you pulled on me yesterday morning." The woman crossed her arms over her chest, jutting her hip slightly to the side in a stance Shikaku knew well. It was a somewhat mirror image to Yoshino's own whenever she wanted to grab him by the ear and force him to work. "But I can see you're at least _trying_. So as long as you eat that shitty attitude, bury it- fucking blow it up for all I care- and never bring it back, I see no problem in forgiving."

Shikaku had _never_ heard about Tsume actually _forgiving_ anyone. He'd heard about righteous revenge and petty episodes of disrespect. But she had never been the kind of woman to forgive any perceived wrongdoing.

From the look of utter astonishment that now decorated Kiba's face, Shikaku could see that even the teenager was also left stunned by what she had said.

"Now go and do something productive with your day. I don't give a single shit what it is. But know that tonight you're going to sit down and listen to everything your sister will teach you."

Kiba took a step forward, a flash of defiance crossing his face.

From the single glare his mother sent him, Shikaku reluctantly admitted that it made sense for the kid to be accustomed to squashing down his own feelings.

It seemed that Kiba didn't just restrain himself around him. This seemed to be a practice that was rather enforced by the Inuzuka Clan, if the way both women carried themselves and glared at Kiba was any indicator.

Tsume gave Shikaku a once over. Her sharp eyes looked over him, as if trying to find something even the Nara was not aware of.

If she found it or not, he was not told.

"Skipping out on work again? Not a good look, Nara."

There was a forced relaxation within her words that didn't sound quite right. It was too on edge; too harsh. But Shikaku decided to just play along and shrug, "I'll get to it eventually."

She nodded and tried a smile. But it looked so much like a sneer that the Nara was reminded of the many Inuzuka he had seen go into battle.

In all honesty, it was not the kind of look one wanted to see from an ally.

With a stern nod at them, Tsume turned around and stalked back into the Inuzuka Compound, leaving him and Kiba to stand by the gates in silence.

A couple of seconds passed before either of them said a single thing.

"… I'm worried."

Shikaku turned to look at the teenager, only to find him staring after his mother's retreating silhouette.

"Why?"

"She didn't have Kuromaru with her… And she didn't punish me… And Hana's going to make me listen to her again… They're planning something…"

Shikaku closed his eyes and nodded solemnly, all the while he heard Akamaru huff between them.

They all agreed then: There was undoubtedly more to the situation than either the Inuzuka Elder or Tsume were letting on.

Even though he knew that this situation wasn't the kind that he would ever wish on anyone, Shikaku could at least comfort himself with one fact: Kiba wasn't as stupid as another teenager might have been.

He was a teenager with a predisposition of expecting the worst, sure. But the kid was at least smart enough to see that there was something truly odd about the way the females had interacted with them. And he could connect all of the dots of the odd picture, even though he was not able to make a concrete conclusion. This was okay, though, seeing how not even Shikaku himself was able to figure out just what in the world was happening behind the curtains of the Inuzuka Clan.

With a heavy sigh, Kiba pivoted on his heels and motioned for Shikaku and Akamaru to follow him with his head.

Shikaku did so without a second thought, more than aware that he had to return to his Clan and staying in one place really wouldn't help him reach his destination.

Even though he was aware of where he had to go, he wound up follow Kiba a good bit of his trip. He wasn't sure just where it was that the kid was heading towards, but it had at least been in his general direction. So they had walked in an uneasy silence that wasn't nearly as bad as it had been during their first few meetings.

When they reached the market place, though, Shikaku knew that he would have to leave the kid. He was to head to the east now, towards his Clan's Compound so he could finally give his long overdue report on the past day's date. Kiba was going in the opposite direction, towards the Hokage Mountains and Academy.

"I'll see you later, kid." He cleared his throat and offered a small wave, which received a lazy wave of its own. "Don't train too hard."

"No promises on that, Lord Nara." The kid bit back with what Shikaku assumed to be an attempt at humor, although it fell rather flat. "Don't sleep too much."

The small smile that made its way onto his lips wasn't undeserved, "No promises."

Pushing his hands into his own pockets, Shikaku hunched his shoulders just slightly and sighed.

He was tired. He'd walked a lot more than he ever would have liked; thought a lot more too; before he had even returned to his home. He'd slept at his desk and been forced to deal with Clan related bureaucratic bullshit. For some reason he found himself actually kind of worried for what happened to Kiba- and, even though he would not admit it to himself, was kind of worried about what the kid might to do now that he had been given free reign of himself for the day. And he now had to return to his home to deal with even more bullshit he did not want to put up with.

On a normal day, he would have been glaring at the ground and exuding killer intent without a single bit of remorse.

All he felt right now, though, was confusion.

The Inuzuka Clan… Did not behave as he believed they would have. He knew they behaved like savages most of the time; he'd expected them to act in a similar manner during the proceedings. Not completely like the animals he knew they could be in battle. But near enough for him to feel _comfortable_.

He was proven horribly wrong. And he did not like it.

Feeling underprepared had never been something he had enjoyed.

It seemed he would have to conduct some sort of research into Inuzuka manners before he continued to be surprised by everything he witnessed from them.

* * *

He couldn't go to anybody about the situation. Shikaku was the only person that could even marginally begin to understand his situation- his feelings. And even though he had let a lot slip during the morning, he was _not_ prepared to bear so much of his soul to a guy that he barely knew. Nice and seemingly trustworthy or not, the Nara Clan Head was still someone completely _new_ to him. He may have said that he would not sell him out, but those words meant nothing to Kiba at the moment.

… Maybe… In the future, those words might mean a lot… They sounded pretty honest and strong, if he was being honest. But for the moment, Kiba could not bet all his cards on just _words_.

So he couldn't tell anybody what was happening. Telling someone would get him into a load of trouble he just did not even want to think about.

If talking to someone to just unleash some of his pent up emotions, then there was only one thing left to do: visit the library and continue training.

Kurenai Sensei barely ever called team training on weekends. She believed that there was a time for training and a time for rest. Right now, he should have been resting. But Kiba was restless. It was only obvious that he would do something to try and get rid of all of the energy he held inside.

This meant that his Saturday afternoon was spent in the library.

He still wore the same clothes he had been wearing the past day, but, luckily enough, they didn't smell bad. They didn't smell as if they'd been freshly washed, but this was better than nothing when he _really_ didn't feel like going back home just to change clothes… He should have changed them while he had still been near, yes, but he couldn't go back… His mother's trap had been left unsprung. It was too risky.

As soon as he entered his little safe haven, he found Kotetsu corralling him towards his desk, a warm hand digging itself onto Kiba's head.

Quite frankly, if this had been anyone other than Kotetsu, Kiba was sure he would have slashed his hand off. But because this was a man he knew he could trust- a man he had managed to create _some_ kind of friendship with in virtually _no time_ -, Kiba didn't feel as if he were unsafe. Especially because the library was the closest he came to having a home now.

"Got any news for me, kid?" Kotetsu asked as he pulled up a chair for Kiba to sit on, right beside the one he used. "I'm guessing something must have happened- you didn't show up yesterday at Godforsaken hours." Then he pursed his lips, undulated his head slightly, and sucked at his teeth, "And you're here _now_ … Not at the usual time."

The impulse to tell Kotetsu the truth rose up within him so fast that it kind of scared the Inuzuka. But he was able to stamp it down, more than aware that it wouldn't be a good idea to do such a thing.

He had a duty to fulfill. There was no way to get away from it. Asuma Sensei, his mother, his Elders... _Everyone_ had made that unbearably clear.

"Nothing much… Pissed my mom off, though… So I'm kind of hiding from her."

Not a stretch, but not completely honest either. A perfect medium, if Kiba could say. He was kind of proud. Although there was an underlying feeling of _wrong_ in this thought that made him quickly ignore the fact that he had lied. _Again_.

"What could you possibly do to piss Tsume off?" Kotetsu asked lightheartedly, then stood still for a moment, shrugged to himself, and turned to Kiba with a small smile. "Scratch that. There's a lot that could piss your mom off."

Kiba smiled softly, slowly beginning to feel much more relaxed than he had felt in a while.

Kotetsu had that kind of effect on people- he was just so _happy_. It wasn't an energetic, annoying happy, like Naruto's tended to be. It wasn't completely chill and relaxed either, though. It was a sort of happiness that fell in between those both extremes that was so purely _Kotetsu Hagane_ that Kiba just couldn't deny how comfortable he felt around the guy.

Akamaru made his way beneath Kotetsu's large desk and curled up comfortably beneath it. Then the chunin threw himself onto his own chair, spinning a full circle before he stopped and looked at Kiba.

"Guess what I found."

His dark eyes sparkled and the smile on his lips was contagious. Kiba couldn't help but smile back. But then he pursed his lips in an act of dramatic flair that he always adopted whenever around Kotetsu.

As cliché as it may have sounded, he felt like there was no way he could do any wrong around the guy.

"Your sanity."

A jerky shake of his head and mock frown where Kiba's response. It didn't take a genius to know that this was _not_ what Kotetsu had found.

Humming, Kiba looked over the large rows of books that made up the library's collection.

"Your pride?"

The older male made a choked sound: also a no.

"Your-"

"Before you insult me again, could you at least try and _think_?" Kotetsu huffed and Kiba looked at him from the corner of his eyes to see him with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. "Geez, I thought you liked me."

"I appreciate your company- correct."

"You're meaner than Izumo." He unwound his arms, scratched his chin, tilted his head to the right just slightly, and huffed. "I've got a bad habit of making friends with really mean people… Is there even such a thing as a _not_ mean person?"

Kiba felt warm at suddenly being called a friend.

He didn't know why.

It was stupid.

He knew it was stupid.

Yet... As stupid as it may have been, he could not stop himself from feeling _good_ at just being called a friend.

His friends weren't bad. But… Well, he didn't know how to explain it. Not even to himself.

He loved all of his friends. They were all awesome people he'd give everything to protect. But… They were _his_ age. They were all preoccupied with their own dilemmas and troubles. They were focused on… Well… _Themselves_.

He was too, so he couldn't really hold that against them.

Kotetsu wasn't focused on just himself, though. He sometimes told Kiba what was going on with him- even though he had yet to find out why it was that he was on library duty. But, oftentimes, he kept conversations light and tried to help Kiba out with his training. He didn't ask _too many_ questions. And he did his best to just keep the library cozy for him.

Geez… He sounded selfish and self-absorbed…

Sighing softly, Kiba relented, "Some great new book on jutsu?"

"That is extremely generalized and I resent the fact that you took the easy way out rather than trying to guess specifics." The older male deadpanned immediately, but broke out into a large grin, "But I'm too excited to show you this to hold a grudge. Look at this beauty!"

The man materialized a book out of seemingly thin air.

It was large, incredibly thick, seemed to be in leather, and had no title on it.

Kiba blinked at it for a couple of seconds before he looked at Kotetsu.

"Uh… Yay?"

Kotetsu tsk'ed in contempt and pulled the book into his chest to hug it tightly.

"It's been a difficult search, but I managed to finally find it! It's a book on joint jutsu! You can start working on Akamaru's own chakra control so you can team up for more than just your Clan techniques!"

As soon as he heard the explanation, Kiba understood why it was that Kotetsu had been so excited. And he surged forward, moving to grab it and take it away from the chunin that most certainly did not need a book on shared chakra natured jutsu. But the little weasel moved it away and out of his reach.

"Now admit that I'm the awesomest person in the world."

Kiba reared back onto his chair and leveled him with an unamused glare.

"You are the most insufferable person in the world." Then he thrust his hand forward, "Now gimme."

Kotetsu shook his head and leaned back even further so that the book was even farther away from the Inuzuka's clutches.

"We've got a tough one, I see. Don't worry, Inuzuka. I'm training to get into T&I. I'll manage to break you. Just you wait!"

"You? T&I? I feel sorry for the pitiful sacks you'd have to interrogate… They'd kill themselves just to save themselves from having to listen to you."

Kotetsu gasped in genuine pain.

Kiba took this as his chance.

He sprung forward and tried to grab the book with his right hand, all the while the left moved to stabilize him against the back of Kotetsu's chair. But the spineless weasel was faster than he looked. With a squeak of surprise, he threw himself back even further and Kiba's fingers _ghosted_ over the edge of the book before it was pulled away.

Somehow, Kiba wound up just about sitting on Kotetsu's lap. But that barely registered in his mind, much too busy trying to grab the book to actually notice it. And Kotetsu, just as invested in keeping the book away from him, didn't even seem all that bothered. He merely laughed as he used his superior height against the Inuzuka and kept the book far from the teenager.

"Hagane! Stop being so boring! Give me the book!"

"Not until you tell me how awesome I am!"

Kiba willed his body to stretch, although he was rather aware that he would not suddenly hit a growth spurt just because he wanted to grab the book. "I'm not going to lie! I'm your friend, right? Friends don't lie!"

"Friends lie all the time if it's to protect each other!"

Kiba stopped in his struggling to glare at the man directly in the eyes. Kotetsu relaxed just minutely, even though his body remained coiled up and prepared for another try.

"If you don't give me that book, I won't be your friend."

"I'm wounded."

Kotetsu smirked.

Kiba frowned.

Someone cleared their throat and pulled them away from their struggle.

Kotetsu turned his head to the side for just a second to see who it was that needed his help. But it was enough time. Kiba surged forward once more and found his attempt to be successful.

Jumping back with a hoot, the book clutched tightly and proudly in his hands, Kiba returned to his chair and enthusiastically opened it up to see what treasures awaited him.

"Hagane, Inuzuka, this is a library, not a playground."

While the words might have been stern, the tone was almost tickled. So Kiba was able to tell that this person wasn't about to scold him and Kotetsu for horsing around in the library… Or, well, at least it wouldn't scold them _too_ harshly.

"Izumo, my friend, my dear, beautiful friend… How could you double cross me in this manner?" Kotetsu stood up and Kiba looked up to find a brown haired male being grabbed by his flak jacket's collar. "I thought we were supposed to be partners 'til the end."

The man had one eye covered by his hair, but the visible eye was more than enough to be able to see him rolling it. "That ended when you wound up here and I got shipped to gate duty. Ko, you are aware that the more you horse around, the less likely you'll be promoted?"

Kotetsu stopped shaking this Izumo and huffed. Then he threw himself back into his chair and threw his arms over his eyes dramatically.

"Oh, woe is me, dear Izumo! I do not think I could continue living if my future is stuck behind this desk!"

"I don't know…" Izumo muttered as he gave Kiba a once over, all the while the teenager quirked an eyebrow at him. "You seem entertained."

The tone wasn't amused anymore… There was something off with this guy's voice… And Kiba _didn't_ like it.

"Yeah, kid's got a good head on his shoulders."

Kotetsu patted Kiba's head. With each pat, the Inuzuka lowered his head, shoulders rising up to his ears.

By the fourth pat, he bared his teeth at the annoying man.

His prize for showing a spine was to get his hair ruffled.

"Do that again and I'll bite your hand."

Kotetsu looked at him with that insufferable smile on his lips. Kiba glared at him in the eyes, even though he was conscious of the hand that was slowly descending on his hair.

As soon as it touched, he sunk his teeth into warm flesh.

The rest of the day, Kotetsu sulked about his newest bandage, claiming it was so uncool he couldn't even come up with a cool lie to explain what had happened to him. And Kiba enjoyed his newest book, a dozen different ideas making their way into his mind as he found out more and more information on how he would be able to join different sorts of jutsu to make an amazing combination attack.

..~..~..

What'd you think? Liked it? Hated it? Please leave a review and tell me what you think!


	11. Chapter 11

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult.

~..~..~

On Monday morning, Kiba started his day like any other. He went to the library to make intricate plans for a combination attack with Akamaru, seeing how the book Kotetsu had showed him held information that was actually pretty useful for coming up with plausible attacks they could fuse.

Oddly enough, he was not able to find Kotetsu manning the front desk like usual. But when he asked the kunoichi that had taken his place, he found out that the older male had finally been freed from his punishment.

(He did not miss the pure shock that took over the woman's face when she saw an Inuzuka in a library before daybreak. But he didn't comment on it, instead allowing that surprise to roll off of him as if it meant nothing… It had kind of stung, though, to be seen as abnormal just because he was in a library. Wasn't he supposed to _want_ to learn to be a better ninja?)

It was a shame, in a sense, because he would not be around the library anymore. And that meant no more Kotetsu induced fun inside said library. But, it also meant Kotetsu had served his time and was back in the active roster of shinobi, which was something he had wanted for a while now. So, Kiba was kind of happy for him, although also disappointed.

Still, he had busied himself taking notes from a book on earth release jutsu and for possible combination attacks he could execute with his partner. It had been weird to not have Kotetsu looking over his shoulder and nitpicking everything he found interesting. It had not been a good kind of weird… But he couldn't bring himself to brood because he'd lost his library buddy. It just wouldn't be right to wish Kotetsu to be stuck in a place he'd damned a thousand times before.

Once he had finished up in the library, Kiba promised himself to seek Kotetsu out later on to weedle him some more and find out why he had been working at the library in the first place. Oh, and to make him find even more information for him, even though he wouldn't have complete access to library archives anymore.

With that promise to himself clear in his mind, Kiba made his way to the training grounds to meet with his team.

When he reached Traning Ground 8, it was to find Kurenai Sensei waiting with Shino right beside her. Hinata, oddly enough, seemed to be the last one to arrive, seeing how she trudged up to them a couple of seconds after Kiba and Akamaru arrived.

"It's good to see you all again." Kurenai smiled kindly at all of them, her eyes shining with pride Kiba knew well.

His heart began to beat in excitement as soon as he connected the shine in her eyes with the usual information she gave them whenever she had it. There was a mission they had been assigned to! Finally, he'd _finally_ be able to get out of this godforsaken Village for a little while!

"What have you got for us, Kurenai Sensei?" He asked excitedly, Akamaru barking right beside him in his own excitement.

* * *

"There are no books on the Inuzuka Clan hierarchy. There's nothing for me to learn… If I haven't found anything yet, I won't find anything at all."

Shikaku's only answer was silence.

Quite frankly, he had not expected anything other than that. If he had been answered, he may have just started worrying about mental health. He was supposed to be alone down here, after all.

The Hokage's personal library was one that he wouldn't have access to unless he was Jounin Leader. It held some of the most dangerous and sensitive texts to ever be written, so it wasn't really a surprise that not just anybody could waltz in and begin to look over what could be found within its collection.

It was exactly because of this that Shikaku had fully expected some kind of _something_ that dealt with the inner workings of the Inuzuka Clan. If there truly were texts of all kinds, then odds were that there would have been something about the dog lovers.

He had been wrong. There was nothing about them in here… Well, there _was_. But it was all standard: Clan affiliation, history of said affiliation, preferred jutsu type, supposed origins, and more standard information that could be found within any library inside of Konoha. None of it was something he could even use to try and begin to understand the puzzle before him.

A small frown pulled at the corner of his lips as the Nara walked out of the library and shut the door behind him. He made sure that all of the locks were in their proper place and then stepped away so he could begin to make his way out of the maze that was the inner workings of the Hokage's Compound.

He knew that books weren't substitute for real life events. He knew that literature, no matter how precise, could always miss the more important human factors of any given story. He knew that emotions and thought processes weren't always depicted in accounts of historical events, much less in books that observed and analyzed a Clan. But he also knew that he needed to begin somewhere.

In books and literature, though, it seemed he would find nothing of importance. So he clearly would not be able to find his starting line there.

This wasn't necessarily a complete roadblock. But it certainly didn't help him in getting any closer to figuring out the puzzle of the Inuzuka Clan.

Once he was able to get out of the dark, clean, and unbearably stale hallways, Shikaku found himself at the center of the Hokage Compound.

This wasn't really much of a compound. The Hokage that had built it, Hashirama Senju, had never been one for material riches. He had wanted a comfortable home where his children could roam free but be protected in case of an attack. So it began as a comfortably sized plot of land with easily defendable buildings at the top of one of the highest mountains in Konoha. The thought behind the location was that the higher the Compound found itself, the more their enemies would have to climb. And this would mean the more time they would have to be able to find a counter attack to protect themselves from those enemies.

Afterwards, Tobirama Senju acquired some more land. His plans for the Compound were for it to be used as a temporary safe haven for civilians, wounded shinobi, and children in case of an invasion in Konoha. So it became a rather large, almost terrifying structure. It had looked almost like a prison because of its orientation leaning towards safety and protection rather than comfort.

The Third Hokage had decided that, while his old teacher's heart had been in the right place, the Compound had become too large to properly defend. So he decided to build underground tunnels and structures to be able to keep his Villagers safe in case of an attack, but to leave the above ground façade as it had initially been after Hashirama had finished with it.

Finally, the current Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had decided to add a couple of gardens and fountains to make it look nice- the whole Village knew that it had actually been Kushina to decide to make the Compound look much more artistic and peaceful. He fortified the underground structures and added defenses to the main areas, though, in a strategic move in case of a possible attack. But, aside from that, he had mostly left things untouched.

It had been Tobirama Senju to collect the most dangerous documents, books, and scrolls to keep things civilians didn't need to know from bothering them. Then it had been Hiruzen Sarutobi that had decided to grab most of those documents and group them together into the underground library Shikaku had just used. He had kept the most dangerous of scrolls, though, close to his heart. And Minato now found himself weighed down with that very burden. Just like the next Hokage to come would be tasked with keeping these documents safe and untouched.

The sky was caught in between shades of light blue, bright white, and pale yellow. The sun was in its highest position, nestled among a sea of blue and white, signaling that Shikaku had spent a measure amount of time seeking information. He had arrived early to sift through those documents and scrolls, aware that he could not spend a whole day within the records, but sure that he could give a few hours to his search.

He had not spent too long… But he would still be hounded on by Inoichi and the rest when they found out he had not gone directly into his office once morning had come.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the Nara groaned, stuck his hands into his pockets, and began to walk away from the entrance into the library.

He did not make it too far before he was stopped by a much too bubbly blonde Hokage making his way towards him.

"Lord Nara! How'd your search go? Find anything interesting?"

Minato was not supposed to be in his home so early in the day. He was supposed to still be in his office, dealing with all of the important documents he needed to fill out.

Shikaku suppressed the unimpressed sigh he wanted to release- this man wasn't supposed to be here and he couldn't really condone that he _was_ here. But he merely stopped and waited for his Hokage to catch up to him so he would not have to worry over proper etiquette around his Village's Leader.

"Oh, I found nothing too amazing." Shikaku shrugged his shoulders softly.

Upon seeing the Hokage's energetic blue eyes zeroed in on him and the much too bright smile on his lips, Shikaku began to feel overwhelmingly tired. He had no idea just how in the world someone could maintain such a high level of energy throughout the whole day. And he certainly could not understand how someone was able to look so happy in the middle of a busy day, even though they had the weight of a whole _Village_ upon their shoulders.

Once he was right in front of Shikaku, the Hokage smiled warmly at him and planted his hands on his hips.

"At least you found something- that there was nothing here you need."

So annoyinginly optimistic… Why did he always find himself surrounded by such troublesome blondes?

"Hey, would you like to join my family for lunch?" The blonde suddenly asked, then pointed over towards the main structure nestled among a couple of smaller buildings and surrounded by luscious trees and bushes. "Kushina is never bothered by having more mouths to feed."

Shikaku was instantly enticed at the prospect of free food. He was rather hungry and not too eager to spend any more money on food. So it wouldn't really be that bad of an idea… Besides, the Namikaze family always proved to be rather interesting company.

A bit of entertainment with a free meal didn't sound too bad… Especially when he took into account just how horrible of a cook he was and how Shikamaru had- unfortunately- inherited his lack of skills in that department.

He quietly nodded his affirmation to joining the family's dinner.

~/~

"I don't really think that those kids should be sent out on missions yet… And the Inuzuka agree with me; Kiba still hasn't been cleared for action. But Hinata and Shino are assigned to leave the Village in less than a week. Their teacher is supposed to tell them their mission today." Minato sighed softly with a shake of his head, then looked Shikaku in the eyes, worry clear within his own. "You can understand why I would be worried over their safety."

Shikaku nodded solemnly after the Hokage had finished explaining his worries for the three Clan Heirs, all the while Kushina flitted from one place to another within her home. He wasn't completely sure just what _exactly_ she was doing, but he could smell various foods being cooked along with a couple of cleaning detergents. Whatever it was she was doing, he was sure it dealt with multi-tasking in levels that he had only ever seen Yoshino display.

Even though Minato had said it would be fine if he joined them for lunch, Kushina made it very clear that she had not been planning on cooking for more than three people. She'd sent Minato that exasperated glare she only ever gave him whenever he did something foolish but couldn't bring herself to actually scold him on what he had done. But she had quickly gotten to cooking so that the food would be prepared by the time Naruto arrived.

Softly, Shikaku breathed out and restrained himself from closing his eyes in frustration.

There was another reason as to why Kiba was not being cleared for out of village missions. But that was a reason that only he, the Inuzuka and Nara Clan Elders, and Tsume knew about. Not even Kiba himself was aware of this small fact. Just like Minato did not know. And, just like with everyone that was not part of the Clans involved, the Hokage did not _need_ to know about this particular reason.

"They're both capable shinobi." Shikaku conceded with a small sigh as he scratched softly at his chin, "I'm sure that they'll be able to complete whatever they've been sent to do without any difficulty."

Minato smiled shakily at the reassurance, "Yeah, you're right. Besides, Shikamaru is going with them. There's no way those three won't be able to deal with whatever life throws at them."

It was at this point that Shikaku noticed he had not had a good conversation with his only son in quite some time. If he had, he would have known about this newest mission he was being sent on.

… He would have to make up for that… Shikamaru was not in any state to be allowed loose for so long. He needed more guidance. And he deserved for his father to be there for him too. He couldn't allow himself to slip away from his role as a parent just because he found himself having to deal with an arranged marriage he had never wanted.

"Aside from the fact that I still have people searching for Yoshino's killers, I don't really think there's anything too exciting for me to talk about. At least about missions I've had to assign…"

Shikaku nodded softly and was about to ask the man if he had managed to read over the documents he had sent back to his office after having had to make a couple of annotations over things the Hokage had not taken seriously enough the first time around. But before he was able to do so, the serenity within the Hokage's home was shattered by the sudden slamming of a door.

"Dad! Is it okay if I head over to Ichiraku's for lunch? Team 8'll be there!"

"Sure thing, son!"

"Thanks, dad!"

Just as suddenly as his voice had shattered all peace in the house, it left to allow silence to take its rightful place once again.

"Guess I didn't have to make so much food, then…" Shikaku heard Kushina lament, which made him shrug and smile softly at her.

"Now you have leftovers for dinner and won't have to cook a second meal."

The red head's lips allowed a small, devious smile to take over them, all the while Minato groaned in dismay at not getting a fresh meal for dinner. Shikaku did his best to keep from seeming to smug over this.

"I knew you Nara were smart."

* * *

He wanted to be happy for his teammates. He really did. He wanted to be able to look them in the eyes and tell them how truly glad he was that they had been chosen for a mission after the whole fiasco that had rocked all of their Clans.

But Kiba had never hated either of his teammates so much before in his life. And he couldn't bring himself to try and lie to them. So he didn't. He just kept his mouth shut.

Training with them had been rocky because of this. It was rather difficult for teams to work together, after all, if one of them refused to cooperate with the rest and communicate. Their joint attacks were off and Kurenai Sensei was left fuming at Kiba's very obvious lack of consideration for his teammates.

When she'd told him to get his head out of his ass and work like a proper ninja, Kiba had found something within himself snap.

He hadn't screamed like he was accustomed to doing when he was angry. He didn't growl and snarl out about his disappointment and how he deserved to go on a mission. Actually, he didn't say a single thing.

He'd never walked away from his team before. Not even during their toughest days, when they all hated each other and wanted nothing more than to leave one another behind, had he even _thought_ about leaving his teammates behind.

This didn't even cross his mind as he walked away.

He didn't storm off. He didn't stomp and sneer as he made a big point of leaving them behind. No, he walked off with all of the calm in the world.

He knew that he would regret leaving them behind later on. He knew that eventually they would go to find him and ask what in the world had crawled up his ass and died. He was also pretty aware that walking off on his team was a pretty valid reason for not sending him on a mission.

But Kiba couldn't bring himself to care about _any_ of that at the moment. Because his teammates were living amazing lives while his was turning to shit. And he could not understand what he had done to deserve such a destiny while they were given amazing hands of fate.

Akamaru had not walked off with him. He had stayed behind for a couple of minutes, undoubtedly completely caught off guard by Kiba's actions. But it hadn't taken him long to follow after his human. And Kiba had found one good thing in his life.

Maybe his human friends had no idea what he was going through. But at least Akamaru would always have his back, no matter what.

"Feel like going for lunch, boy?"

Akamaru barked at him, asking if they shouldn't turn back and apologize to his team.

"I can't do that. I'm pissed off. I shouldn't be angry at them, boy, I know that…" Kiba breathed out, shaking his head in frustration. "But they sure aren't helping. I have to go and marry Shikaku, my Clan won't let me leave the Village, and they complain over stupid family drama that can be solved by just talking shit out."

They didn't complain much. Kiba knew this. But Shino and Hinata were forever mired with frustration and stress that stemmed from their Clans. Hinata's issues were, admittedly, a bit bigger than Shino's, seeing how her father had actually contemplated disowning her at one point. But Hiashi had gotten better over the years and he only wanted to see her grow stronger. She sometimes saw this and tried her best to improve her skills. But she was a teenager and sometimes she succumbed to her self-doubts and accidentally gave her father a reason to continue looking at her younger sister as a proper heir.

Shino didn't have that problem with his father. He merely had to worry over not failing every single mission he went on and passing any tests he was given to take leadership of his Clan when his father decided to step down. His true issues came from the fact that he had insects living inside of him and not many people found that cool. He was socially awkward at best and purposely rude at worst, and that made him feel like an outsider.

Usually, Kiba would sympathize with his teammates. He had, at one point, been the one out of all of them that had the least issues with his Clan and with social interactions. He was an Inuzuka and that always led him into _some_ kind of trouble around people that weren't accustomed to them, but he had always been outgoing and had barely faced the issues Shino came across. And, while he wasn't a prodigy, his Clan and mother had never given him a reason to worry over his inheritance.

But now he was being forced to marry one of his father's friends. He was being told he would have to fully submit to a man twice his age. And he was being kept locked inside of Konoha as if he were a flight risk.

Hinata and Shino's problems seemed rather small when he acknowledged the fact that his own Clan had sold him off to a life of servitude to an old man simply because of a debt that had been created _before_ he had been born.

"When they come looking for me, I won't chase them off. But I won't apologize either."

Akamaru thought that was pretty foolish. They didn't know about what he was going through. And he should act as if nothing was wrong if he didn't want his Elders on his ass yet again. But Kiba couldn't bring himself to act as if everything was fine. Because it wasn't.

"Listen, either we get lunch now or I go back to the library and keep on working until ma and sis are asleep."

He wasn't all that hungry. If anything, his stomach was in a tight knot that refused to let him even think of anything being appetizing. But he knew that he had to eat, he wasn't about to let himself waste away just because his life sucked.

The large dog huffed but agreed to go ahead and find something to eat.

~/~

Along their way to find something to eat, Kiba stumbled upon a little bit of good luck.

"Hey, Inuzuka! Am I glad to see your ugly mug again!"

Kotetsu jogged up to him with a bright smile and, once close enough, he pulled Kiba in for a tight hug as he ruffled the younger male's hair.

Kiba, in mock protest, weakly groaned and tried to get away from him. But Kotetsu merely chuckled and kept him close, more than aware that if Kiba didn't want to get hugged, he would have never even allowed himself to get dragged towards him.

"Man, no wonder Izumo doesn't like you… You are loud."

Kotetsu gasped out in feigned pain, then let go of the Inuzuka so he could clutch at his heart. "Wounded by my friend yet again." Once he'd said this, though, he straightened up and frowned, then said in a deadpan, "I honestly have no idea why I sometimes keep you around."

Kiba shrugged, "I could say the same thing."

Kotetsu rolled his eyes, but smiled easily yet again. "I'm guessing you already figured out I won't be around the library anymore."

"Yup." The Inuzuka nodded, motioning offhandedly with his hand, "The kunoichi that took your place told me you were finally freed from library duty."

Kotetsu hummed, then motioned for Kiba to follow him with a slight nod to his right. Kiba quirked an eyebrow at him but didn't question him. Instead he followed after him, more than aware that when Kotetsu wanted him to do something, it was because it was either extremely cool or because he had new information he could use.

They walked down the busy streets of the large market with pleasant conversation. Kotetsu explained to him that he'd finally been liberated from library duty once the Hokage had finally remembered he had been assigned there (apparently, he shouldn't have been working there for so long, but Minato forgot all about him and he'd spent more than what he was supposed to have spent working as his punishment). Now he was being thrown back into the pool of active shinobi. But until he was sent on an actual, out of Village mission, he was moonlighting as Gate guard or running errands for Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka.

Kiba knew Ibiki because of Ino. He kind of also knew Inoichi because of her… But, he didn't. In reality, he knew more about Inoichi because of Shikaku than because of his own daughter.

When they had still been in the Academy, Ino would sometimes be accompanied by the large, scarred, and kind of terrifying behemoth known as Ibiki Morino. Back then he had still been working under Inoichi, rather than with him, but he'd been one of the scariest things any of the kids his age had ever seen.

He had always been a pretty intense man and Kiba had, at one point, thought that he didn't have the physical ability to smile. But his theory of Ibiki actually being a demon from hell in human disguise sent to the world of the living to collect the souls of the stupidly innocent and maliciously evil had been proven wrong when he had shown up alongside Ino to one of their classmate's birthday parties with an actual smile on his face.

His mother had also kind of smacked sense into him when he'd accidentally told her his theory, but… eh… He had been a kid. And he still swore there was something _not quite right_ with the guy.

Inoichi Yamanaka, though… Well, he was someone he didn't really want to think about. So he wouldn't.

"So you're really trying to get into T&I, huh?" Kiba questioned Kotetsu as they weaved past civilians, vendors, and an occasional ninja on their way to Kotetsu's destination. "You sure you're prepared to deal with Morino being your boss?"

Kotetsu scoffed and sent him a devious smirk, "Please, you're asking the wrong questions, Inuzuka. I've been dealing with Morino bossing me around for _years_ now. No, no, the true question to ask here is: Will Morino really let me to join Anko's ranks?"

He had never met Anko Mitarashi personally. But he'd heard more than enough about her to know that Orochimaru had helped mold quite a _unique_ kunoichi in his younger years.

He couldn't really put much against the guy, though, when it came to her, seeing how his mother had also been trained by the Snake Sannin… Well, then again, maybe he should feel sorry for the guy. He had no idea how that guy had not gone insane after having taken so many different Inuzuka and insane kunoichi under his wing.

"I don't think he would." Kiba muttered, turning his eyes away from Kotetsu's back to notice how one of the merchants was selling extremely cheap steak at much too high a price. He sneered softly, but didn't comment on it, knowing more than well enough that he wasn't the right person to confront a foreign salesman. He'd already done so once before and had gotten his ass handed to him. "But, who knows, maybe he'll let you join just to dump all of the boring work on you."

"Please, as if that would stop me!" When Kiba turned to look at Kotetsu, it was to find him puffing out his chest in a clear show of pride. "I'd just delegate all that to Izumo."

"I'm pretty sure that that's not how it works, Kotetsu."

"Hush, young grasshopper." Kotetsu murmured, then beamed as he pointed directly in front of them. "I'm going for lunch and you're joining me."

When Kiba followed his finger, it was to find that he was pointing at Ichiraku's Ramen Shop. And while he wasn't usually a big fan of ramen, he was pretty sure that he could convince the guy to buy his food for him. And why would he stop himself from eating ramen when he could possibly get it for free?

"You're paying."

"Only if I get to pick your meal."

"If it's vegetarian, I'll stab you with a rusty kunai."

"Ooh, kinky." Kotetsu waggled his eyebrows, immediately making Kiba snort out a chuckle, "Let's go get some food, yeah?"

~/~

Eating with Kotetsu was pleasant. He was a funny guy that made light of just about anything and somehow made Kiba's day a thousand times less shitty by just opening his mouth and saying something completely and hilariously stupid.

Their time spent together had been fun and delicious, seeing how Kotetsu had actually ordered the meat lover's ramen for him, rather than some evil plate that would have made Kiba try and make good with his threat of rusty kunai.

Unfortunately, their pleasant time together was cut short when his teammates and Naruto entered the ramen shop.

"Kiba-kun!"

As soon as Kiba heard Hinata, his good demeanor soured and he turned to her with an unimpressed frown pulling at the corners of his lips.

"We have to talk."

Hinata's pale eyes were wide, worry and confusion swimming within them. Shino was as unreadable as ever, but hurt and confusion wafted off of him in droves, filling up Kiba's nostrils. And confused Naruto was just completely caught off guard by the sudden tension around them, unused to Team 8 having any kind of conflict within their little unit.

Kotetsu's own good demeanor dampened, quickly getting a feel for the tension around the teenagers. But he didn't show that he was worried. Instead he continued eating with a small smile on his lips, as if to let Kiba know that he wasn't all that concerned with what was happening.

"We really don't." Kiba huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned back around to face his food. "You two get to on a mission because your Clans decided you were ready. I'm just stuck in Konoha for who knows how long. There's nothing to talk about."

"Of course there is." Shino bit out, forcing his way to stand behind Kiba. "Mission or not, you had no right to jeopardize our training in such a manner. It's already enough that you always show up late and never have your fully reserves of chakra. Storming out on a training session is the last straw."

"Shino-kun, please…" Hinata suddenly piped up, but Kiba didn't turn to look at either of them. He just kept his eyes locked on his food. "Kiba-kun… Y-you know you can talk to us about anything, ri-right?"

 _Dammit_.

Kiba found his angered resolve wane as soon as he heard Hinata's words.

He had always had a soft spot for her. He'd _always_ had a soft spot for the Hyuga siblings. Hanabi and Hinata both were people he could never stay mad at for too long. He always felt dirty and wrong whenever he tried to keep a grudge against either of them.

Shino was someone easier to stay angry at. He was so mission focused that he usually always lost sight of the emotional aspect that made up human life. He didn't see what could make people in the way they did. He just saw actions that were right or wrong; tolerable or annoying. And it was because of this lack of understanding that Kiba didn't find it too hard to be angry with Shino.

But Hinata… Well, he'd be a liar if he tried to tell anyone that he could stay mad at her for too long. Especially when she went around making sure that everybody was alright, even when she had her own problems to deal with.

"I know that." He sighed, shaking his head softly. "Listen, I don't want to talk about it. I'm fine. Just enjoy your meal. I'll be out of here in a couple of minutes."

"You're not sticking around for lunch, Kiba?" Naruto suddenly chimed in, making Kiba turn to him with an apologetic smile on his face.

Naruto always tried to make time to eat with the rest of their old classmates. He always did his best to spend as much time as possible with Team 10 and Team 8 whenever he wasn't busy with his own team. And sometimes he even pulled them all together for a sort of Academy reunion.

For some reason that was completely foreign to Kiba's understanding, Naruto wanted to keep all of his friends as actual friends, rather than acquaintances that had once gone to school together. And he was usually pretty up for hanging out together, Naruto was a fun guy and time with him was never dull. But, right now, he didn't want to be anywhere near anyone his age.

"Nah. I already finished eating."

He stood up and maneuvered around Shino- whom he knew was glaring at him- and Hinata, whistling for Akamaru to get up and follow him. The dog groaned softly at having to get up from his nap, but still stood up and walked up to him.

"What? Kid, you barely touched your food." Kotetsu finally spoke up, but Kiba only shook his head and pulled the curtain that separated Ichiraku's from the rest of the world aside.

"I'm good. Naruto can eat whatever I left."

And he took off before either Kotetsu or any of his friends could try and convince him to stick around any longer.

* * *

As he walked to his office, Shikaku could not stop himself from wondering just what Kiba would be doing at this very moment.

He knew that Naruto had supposedly gone to lunch with Team 8. Which undoubtedly meant that he was currently in the same place as the Inuzuka. And this, in turn, meant that Kiba was currently interacting with his friends.

That was good, right? Kiba maintaining his friendships would undoubtedly help him continue dealing with the difficult situation he had placed in by his Elders.

Shikaku had Choza and Inoichi to help him deal with what was happening. Even though Choza didn't know what exactly was happening in his life, he was still a very understanding friend that only wanted the best for those he cared about. And that certainly helped Shikaku continue keeping a level head throughout everything that happened to him.

Yeah. Even though his friends weren't supposed to know about what was happening with him, Shikaku was sure that they would help him adapt and overcome what he now faced in their own unique ways.

As soon as he thought this, Shikaku found himself face to face with a rather sad looking Kiba Inuzuka. Akamaru trailed behind him with his tail between his hind legs, and immediately the Nara knew that something rather unsavory must have occurred.

For a couple of seconds, he wondered if he should try and say anything. It really wasn't his place to try and help the kid out, was it? He was just some older man he was being forced to marry. There was no way Kiba would ever want to tell him what was happening.

Still… That frown didn't look right on his face.

When their eyes met, Shikaku made his decision.

With his hands in his pockets, the Nara made his way towards the Inuzuka. And Kiba walked up to meet him halfway, which let him know that he wasn't against them talking.

"Hey."

"Hi."

Kiba shuffled his feet somewhat awkwardly while Shikaku struggled to find the right way to ask his question. Luckily for him, he didn't have to say anything. Kiba spoke up before he had to.

"Listen, I've got nothing to do right now and want to avoid my friends. Would you mind it if I hung around your office for a little bit?"

The request was odd, but not totally bad.

Shikaku mulled over his choices for a little bit.

Kiba didn't really look as if he should be left alone. His eyes were rimmed with red, unshed tears brimming even as he undoubtedly tried to hold them back. And he'd actually _asked_ to go to his office, which meant that he _really_ wanted to have an excuse to not be near his teammates.

There was undoubtedly a large stack of fresh documents waiting for his approval in his office. Because he had not gone into his office yet, he had no idea how big it was. But from his experience in his post, he knew that it wasn't going to be just a new document or two he would have to read. Which meant that he would be tasked with filing away yesterday's documents along with approving today's.

But… If he had Kiba file yesterday's things, then he would only have to focus on what had been left for him today.

Quite frankly, it wasn't hard to come to a decision.

"Would you mind helping me file things away?"

If it had been obvious how eager Kiba was to go into his office before, it was just about hard to ignore now. He shook his head with a bit too much energy, and immediately said, "Just tell me what to do."

Inuzuka weren't usually eager to be cooped up in an office.

If the kid was eager enough to get away from his friends that he was willing to spend an afternoon dealing with tedious paperwork, then there was something incredibly off.

"Come on, then." Shikaku motioned in the direction of his office with his head and began to walk off without waiting to see if the Inuzuka would follow.

He didn't have to wait, really. As soon as he was moving, he could feel Kiba following him.

Sighing softly, Shikaku pondered over just what in the world could have happened to Kiba in the course of a day to make him eager to spend time in an office.

When they reached his office, Kiba immediately bounced towards the stack of signed and approved documents so he could continue the work he had been assigned a couple of days ago, back when he had fallen asleep in Shikaku's office.

Shikaku made his way towards his desk and the fresh stack of troublesome documents he would have to read through. And, upon seeing the size of everything he would have to read, he regretted ever having accepted Minato's proposition of being his Jounin Leader and personal advisor.

Akamaru made himself comfortable on his couch, beginning to snore peacefully in less than five minutes.

When he noted the snoring, Kiba snorted to himself with a murmur of, "Lazy mutt." But it was good natured and Shikaku was able to see the barest threads of a smile on his lips when he looked over at him.

The rest of their afternoon was spent in an amicable silence. It was only ever broken by the rustle of paper, the clipping of a staple, or a groan of irritation or annoyance at what was currently being read.

It took Shikaku almost five hours to figure out what it was that had happened to Kiba. And he only really noticed it when he grabbed a document requesting his permission for a team of only Chunin to leave on a B-Ranked mission.

 _'Team Leader: Shikamaru Nara_

 _Team Members: Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame'_

His teammates were being sent off on a mission when he wasn't. And Kiba didn't even know that this would not be the last time he would be passed over for a mission.

With a soft sigh, Shikaku signed the paper and chanced a glance at Kiba.

He had all kinds of folders scattered around him, different piles of loose papers and collection of documents making up what Shikaku could only assume were the things that needed to be filed away.

"Kiba?"

"Hmm?" The kid hummed to show him that he was listening, even though his eyes were glued to a specific paper.

Shikaku frowned softly, "Is that a confidential file?"

Now the kid tore his eyes away from the paper to look at him. But his eyes weren't wide in fear or worry. No, the kid just looked completely unapologetic. "What would happen if it was?"

Confidential files were confidential for a reason. Either they dealt with extremely fragile occurrences that could jeopardize the Village's safety or they dealt with Clan disputes that should not be known by people that did not understand the intricacies that came with each Clan.

For a moment, Shikaku mulled over his answer. He could tell the kid he could be jailed for getting his paws on things that weren't supposed to be read by him. Or he could even say he could assign him only the worst D-Ranks to show him some respect for the shinobi hierarchy. But, really, that wouldn't win him anything with an Inuzuka.

"Just don't tell anyone about this. I'd lose my job."

"You got it!" Kiba offered him a small salute, then returned to his reading of precious and delicate documents.

Shikaku could have stopped him and kicked him out of his office. But, really, what could one Chunin reading that sort of information do? He might as well give Kiba _something_ to entertain himself with.

..~..~..

And I have finally updated! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! And hope you're also prepared for some more Kiba angst, Clan politics, and Shikaku being adorably awkward!

Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult.

~..~..~

After Shikaku allowed Kiba into his office for the second time since they had been told they would have to marry, the Nara found the Inuzuka hanging around him much more than he ever would have expected weeks ago, back when they had only known about one another because of their connections to Shikamaru.

When Kiba first walked up to his office after the second time he had been in his office, Shikaku had been somewhat stunned. It had been rather early in the day, almost ten in the morning, and he had not been expecting to be visited by the teenager.

He'd knocked almost shyly at his door and Shikaku had called for him to come in without a second thought, the thought of the person waiting outside of his door being Kiba Inuzuka never even crossing his mind.

The person, even though they had opened the door and stepped in, had not said a thing. And after a couple of seconds of silence, Shikaku stopped reading over the files he had been pouring over for the past couple of minutes to ask what was wrong.

The slightly annoyed question died on his lips as soon as his eyes connected with the shuffling Inuzuka.

"Kiba?" He had asked almost instinctively becoming worried, "Is something wrong?"

"Not really." The kid had mumbled, "But ma kinda kicked me outta the house and told me to be productive… And I'm currently avoiding the clinic and Kurenai Sensei… So I couldn't really think of anywhere better to go."

"So you decided to try and be productive in my office?" Shikaku had stood up at that point and made to walk to the boy, but stopped when he'd seen Kiba shrug noncommittally and unconsciously take a step back.

It was at that point that Shikaku had finally noticed that whatever surety the kid had found the day before when he'd read classified documents even when he had known that they were not meant for his eyes, it was nowhere around him at the moment.

He had found himself having to suppress a sigh when his mind made this connection. Still, he had not really seen a reason to turn the kid away. And having an extra set of hands dealing with the less savory aspects of his job had never sounded like a bad idea before. He just had not gotten around to hiring anyone to help him because he had simply been too lazy to look for someone he did not find too troublesome to have to interact with.

"Well, I've still got files to straighten out. And there are a couple of documents I need to be taken to different branches before the end of the day." He'd forced himself to sound as annoyed as possible at this, trying to show the Inuzuka how much of a drag he found his work to be. "And there's also quite a bit of organization I need done to old documents that never got their day to be read and filed."

Kiba's face had brightened so much that Shikaku actually felt like he managed to do good for him.

"I can help!"

"Alright." Shikaku had then motioned for the kid to follow him, directing him towards the files Inoichi had left for him during the morning. "These have to go to T&I." Then he had pointed at another stack, "And those are for the Hunting and Tracking Corps. You won't mind working as a courier?"

"Not at all." Kiba had smiled brightly at him, moving to look over the documents that were to be sent to the branch that was led by one of his clansmen, "Geez, Musashi's got a huge workload."

"We _all_ have a lot to do to keep this Village safe, Kiba."

"Safety, shmafety." The teenager had promptly waved off his words with a humored grin, picked up the documents that were meant for Musashi Inuzuka and his men, and walked back towards his door.

Shikaku had returned to his desk as the kid did so and forced himself to focus on the work before him.

He had expected their interaction to have ended at that point.

But when he had heard Kiba's mumbled, "Thanks", he hadn't been able to stop the small smile that had formed on his lips.

After that, Kiba had come to the office every day to help him sort through documents and straighten out his office.

Quite frankly, he would have to be a liar to say that he had not appreciated and actually liked the help the kid had offered.

* * *

He didn't want to talk with Kurenai Sensei. So he did his best to avoid any and all interaction with the woman that was supposed to be his jounin teacher.

At first, he had worried he would not be able to find legitimate excuses to avoid her. But then Shikaku had actually allowed him to stay in his office and help him out. And Kiba had come up with one of his greatest plans to date: With three-fourths of his team missing (Akamaru had been taken by Hana for extra work in the Clinic; work which Kiba highly suspected, but didn't call out) and with the Jounin Commander utilizing his time, then there really was no reason for him to go and train with Kurenai Sensei.

It was kind of malicious to use Shikaku's post in such a manner; it was even more manipulative than Kiba had ever thought he could possibly get. But, quite frankly, he could not fault himself for his actions. Especially considering how Shikaku seemed to be one of the few people in his life that didn't actually hold his actions against him.

He wasn't an idiot. He knew that Shikaku was the _first_ person he should control his actions around; seeing how his Clan Elders would literally have his head if he somehow fucked himself with what he did... But there was just _something_ about the Nara that made Kiba feel as if he wasn't being judged at all times.

He had honestly tried to maintain a professional kind of atmosphere around them at first... But then Shikaku had committed the grave mistake of letting him know that he had a sense of humor.

"No, it was _not_ that funny, Inuzuka."

It _was_ though. And Kiba couldn't stop himself from laughing as Shikaku glared at him.

Yet again, he found himself inside of Shikaku's office. He had run errands most of the day, but then Shikaku had called him in so they could eat together. While they ate their lunch, Shikaku had told him about one of his greatest blunders he had committed at the very beginning of his tenure as Minato's advisor... And, quite frankly, Kiba had no idea how Minato had been allowed to continue being Hokage after _that_ unbelievably stupid move.

"I can't believe Minato actually did something that stupid! And you actually _helped_?"

"It was a momentary lapse in judgment." Shikaku murmured as he scratched as his cheek, eyes closed. "Not my proudest moment, but I won't actually try and lie about it."

It was unbelievable how honest Shikaku was. He didn't know if it was because he was just an honest person or because he wanted Kiba to think he was. But, quite frankly, he didn't really care. As long as Shikaku continued being this nice and _genuine_ , Kiba could care less about this being an act or real. He could deal with this for the rest of his life.

His laughter sobered up as he noticed just it was that he had thought. Then he frowned and glanced away from the Nara, somewhat stricken.

He'd eventually be marrying this man.

Shikaku Nara was going to be his husband.

 _Damn_.

The good mood he had managed to build crashed and burned as soon as he remembered this.

Suddenly, the food he had in front of him didn't look all that good…

"Kiba?"

He hummed softly to make sure Shikaku knew he had heard him, but didn't look up to face the man.

He was having a good time with Shikaku. The last couple of days had all passed by pleasantly enough because Shikaku happened to actually be a pretty good boss. Getting in his midnight training without his family butting in sure hadn't hurt... But... Well, he had no complaints about his interactions with Shikaku Nara. And he had no idea what he was supposed to think about that.

"Are you alright?" The man murmured softly, as if he didn't want to startle him.

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Kiba nodded softly.

"Y-yeah… I'm fine…" Once he'd said this, he looked over at the files that had been pushed to the side to allow them to eat without worrying about getting food all over important documents, "We should get back to work, right?"

Shikaku's head turned in the direction of all of the documents and he hummed softly, "We _should_ …"

But Shikaku didn't want to. It was clear in his voice. And he sounded _so much_ like a regular human being that Kiba couldn't help but wonder why he was stuck in such a situation.

Shikaku Nara was a good man. Kiba had wanted to hate him at first. But it was proving to be extremely difficult the more he got to know him; he had no idea just how much time had passed since they had actually started to tolerate each other, but it must have been long enough for him to actually feel that this man was a good person.

It was even harder to hate Shikaku Nara knowing that he wasn't only a good man, but also a good that was being forced into marriage; just like him.

Sleazy old men were the kind Kiba could hate. But this guy was just trying to keep his Clan afloat.

It _sucked_ to think rationally about things... But, he'd allowed himself to see this a long time ago, hadn't he?

Kiba knew that he had come to this conclusion time and time again before... He just couldn't, for the life of him, completely let go of his distaste whenever he thought about Shikaku Nara as something other than just a man he could spend time with.

"Most of what's left is files that need to be read and signed by me… After that, they need to be filed."

"But that could take a while."

Shikaku nodded mutely as he began to pick up his plate of food, then motioned to Kiba's own. The teenager had managed to eat most of the food, but he'd still left almost half of what had been brought to them by the courier ninja.

"You should finish eating that. I'll get back to work so you have something to do once you're done."

For a moment, Kiba wanted to feel insulted for the man instructing him to eat more. But he quickly forced that stupid feeling down because, really, he shouldn't be feeling like that. He hadn't eaten enough. And he'd missed breakfast. His appetite wasn't perfect, but he at least ate all of his daily meals... He didn't really like to think about it, but he ate the most during his lunches with Shikaku than in his breakfasts or dinners with his family.

"Alright, then." Kiba picked up his chopsticks and skewered a piece of beef, then watched as Shikaku stumbled to get up and walk to throw away his things.

Softly, the teen shook his head. To be such a lazy and easy going man, he sure had one high post of power. If he hated movement and work so much, how had he wound up as the Jounin Commander of Konoha? It made no sense, really... Then again, this was a Nara... They had an innate gift that made them seem much less capable than they actually were.

Still, he was on the man's desk. Which Shikaku needed to work, even though he hadn't even hinted to this at all. Kiba knew that he needed it, the only other surface to sit on in the large office was a couch and _that_ certainly wasn't comfortable to use for reading and signing documents. So he stood up and meandered towards the plush piece of furniture, container of take-out still in his hands.

Even though he had no idea just how Shikaku had come to hold such a high position in Konoha hierarchy, Kiba could admit that it sure had its perks. Like summoning a courier-nin to go out and buy him food so he wouldn't have to leave his office and put classified documents at risk.

Although, he was pretty sure that Koji had been surprised to see him with Shikaku. Inuzuka weren't really known for their prowess in offices, after all. Much less one as hateful of numbers as Kiba. Luckily, though, his clan member hadn't questioned just what he was doing in the Jounin Commander's office and went out to bring food for them to enjoy.

As he absently munched on what was left of his food, Kiba couldn't help but look around the office.

Shikaku, after having cleaned up a bit, had picked up the last piles of documents they needed to sort through and sat down once more. With a rather serious looking expression on his face, he opened up the first file and began to read.

From what he knew of Shikamaru, Kiba would have guessed that Shikaku would have done everything possible to be able to nap after having eaten lunch. The Nara Heir always ran himself ragged looking for ways to avoid having to work after a good meal, after all. So Kiba had just assumed this to be an attribute all Nara shared, like all Inuzuka despised having to go on missions that dealt with saving cats from trees that weren't exploding.

Shikamaru and Shikaku Nara may be exact _physical_ clones of one another. But they couldn't be any more different.

This was a small comfort, Kiba admitted. He didn't think he would have been able to spend the rest of his life with someone that always asked him to shut up when he became more animated about the stories he told.

He loved Shikamaru, he really did... But the guy was too much of a downer sometimes.

When he began to pick at his food instead of actually eat it, Kiba noticed that he was full. He'd eaten more than half of the plate and had eaten a bit more after Shikaku had asked him to. But he didn't want to eat anymore, so he wouldn't force himself.

Quietly, he stood up to throw out his trash. And when he returned and moved to sit back down on the couch, he asked, "Anything for me to do?"

"Not yet."

With a soft sigh, Kiba threw himself onto the couch and nuzzled his face into the crook of the arm. Luckily enough, the piece of furniture was long enough to fit him even laying down.

He was full, warm, and now sleep was pulling at his eyes.

Kiba was tired- he couldn't deny it. He hadn't slept well at all in the past few days, kept awake by his fears and worries of the future. And unlike any of the other problems he had ever faced in his life, Kiba didn't have anyone he felt comfortable talking to about it. His mother and sister had both abandoned him and he wasn't about to talk to them about this; even more so now that he'd blown up at them over breakfast. None of his friends knew, much less understood.

For the first time in his life, Kiba was completely alone without any idea as to how he was to survive.

With a heavy sigh, Kiba pulled his arms up and underneath his head to use them as a sort of pillow. His eyes were _really_ heavy.

He was so extremely tired...

A yawn escaped Kiba even as he tried to keep it from disturbing Shikaku as he worked. He blinked his bleary eyes as he tried to stay awake, but then he decided that, seeing how Shikaku was going to work on his own thing and wouldn't need his help for a little while longer, it wouldn't hurt to close his eyes for a few minutes.

His intentions were to sleep just a few minutes. No more than that.

* * *

Shikaku had hoped that he would not bore the Inuzuka as the teen waited for him to finish. He didn't want the teenager feeling as if he had nothing to do at the same time he felt powerless of the world around him.

But when light snores began to fill up his office, Shikaku knew that the teen had been so bored he had actually managed to fall asleep.

Glancing up from the reports he had been reading, the Nara took note of Kiba's sleeping form.

The teen was sprawled out on his couch with his arms used as cushions. The way his face looked so calm and actually glad as he slept made Shikaku's heart tug slightly. The bags under the kid's eyes told of many sleepless nights and the older male believed he was eating less as well. The amount of food he had eaten while around the Nara the past few times they ate together wasn't too little, but still didn't feel like enough for a kid as energetic as him.

Everything that had been happening had affected the boy and it seemed that the effects were still taking place.

It was good to see him sleeping, though. The kid needed a good night's rest. Just like he needed somewhere he could feel safe to come to when he couldn't deal with his family. This would be the second time he had fallen asleep on him, though. Amazingly enough, even with all of the boring work he did in the office, Kiba had managed to stay awake all the other days.

Shikaku looked at the kid's form for a few more seconds as he breathed in slowly and peacefully- clear signs of being fast asleep- before he returned to his work.

He needed to have all of these read and filed by the end of the night. Not because he _wanted_ to have them finished. But because they were all classified as **URGENT**. And if he took his usual sweet time in answering them, he might just cost some ninja their lives.

Besides, by working on these, he'd give Kiba some time to get some actual sleep. So, even if he didn't _want to_ work, it would be the best course of action.

~/~

Midway through a report that was not as urgent as the shinobi that had filed it made it seem (What was the name on the report? Shiranui... He should have known), Shikaku was pulled from the embellished writing by a steady knock on his door.

Kiba shifted and murmured in his sleep, clearly reacting to the sudden noise. Shikaku watched him warily, inexplicably dreading him waking up.

Why would he dread such a thing? ... Maybe because Kiba clearly needed to sleep? Yes, that would make sense. He just wished to see Kiba sleep well and not be interrupted by harsh noises.

Once he was sure that Kiba would not be waking up, Shikaku turned to the door and called out that the person outside could step in. His door then opened to reveal Tsume Inuzuka with her large dog accompanying her.

"Nara."

"Inuzuka."

Shikaku hated this tension. Tsume didn't act as she once had around him. And he couldn't understand why their easy camaraderie and banter didn't come naturally anymore.

"I see my pup really does spend his days here."

She hadn't even looked at Kiba. The woman continued to look him in the eyes, her arms crossed over her chest in an almost defiant stance.

Shikaku nodded softly, then dared question, "Was there a reason to doubt his honesty?"

She flashed him a savage smirk suddenly. And Shikaku clearly remembered the throats he had seen ravaged by Inuzuka teeth before.

"I know my son, Nara. He isn't the kind to allow himself to be cooped up in a room." She motioned at his office with her right hand for a moment, then shrugged, "I honestly thought he was lying to me and spending his time with Kotetsu Hagane."

Shikaku quirked an eyebrow at the name, breathed in, and decided that he wasn't in the mood to deal with word-play and spinning this conversation out in circles. He still had work to do. And he wasn't particularly fond of Tsume's mood.

"We're both adults here, Tsume. What do you want?"

She frowned momentarily, then huffed and shook her head, "Just wanted to make sure my pup wasn't running around, getting himself in trouble." With this she took a couple of steps backwards, returning to the door she had left wide open. "C'mon, Kuromaru. Kid isn't a liar. Guess you were right to defend him."

"Of course I was." The dog growled as he took one final look of Kiba, then turned around and left Shikaku's office.

Shikaku watched them as they left, feeling that there was more to this meeting than Tsume wanted to tell him.

She turned around as she grabbed hold of his door and moved to close it. But, right before she closed it completely, Tsume stuck her head into his office and offered a knowing smirk that worried him. "You know, Inuzuka's aren't known for their random naps."

She was gone before Shikaku could question her as to what she meant.

* * *

Shikaku had given him one final thing to hand in before he finished for the day after he had woken up. Kiba had taken the documents over to T&I as he had been asked, found amusement in Genma Shiranui whining about being denied his petition, and then began to make his way back home.

He was clocked out, refreshed because of his power nap, and ready to force Akamaru into yet another round of grueling training.

As he walked back to his place, the Inuzuka couldn't help but feel that there had been something off about Shikaku. He hadn't _acted_ any differently... But, well, it had been hard to ignore his mother's scent inside of the man's office.

With a soft sigh, he reminded himself that he could question his mother later.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Kiba sniffed at the air and noticed a familiar scent. Glancing in front of him, in the distance, he was able to see Shikamaru trudging down the busy Konoha streets with a heavy pack on his bag.

Shino and Hinata's scents were on him... But they weren't anywhere near him. Instead, the scents were faint, as if they had been with him before, but had left him.

They must have returned from their mission, then... Kiba wasn't able to stop himself from frowning at this conclusion.

Shikamaru noticed him and didn't waver in his path. Kiba, in turn, made his way towards him.

"Hey, Nara." He offered him a small smile while Shikamaru stopped walking and sighed softly. "Tired?"

"You have no idea... Can't believe I was sent out on that mission..." His friend grouched, raising his hand to scratch at his neck. "Hey... Shino and Hinata..."

"They're fine." Kiba huffed out, which made Shikamaru frown at him.

"You haven't even seen them. We just got back today... They're looking for you right now."

"Well, shame..." Kiba muttered. "I don't feel like talking to them."

Shikamaru huffed out an annoyed 'troublesome', then looked behind Kiba. Then, with a suspicious look on his face, he asked, "Coming from T&I?"

"How'd you know?"

"I didn't."

Kiba frowned, "I was just dropping something off."

He didn't like the look on Shikamaru's face. He was _thinking_. He was _questioning_.

"I gotta go. I'll see you later, Shikamaru."

"Yeah. See you."

There was something off. Kiba just didn't know what.

* * *

It was odd to Shikaku how things were progressing. The whole situation with Kiba was one he never would have expected to come from an arranged marriage.

He and the kid were actually getting along. And rather well at that.

"No, dude, you've got to put the classified files in the same pile-"

"But if I do that, we'll wind up having to organize even further. There are all sorts of classified missions, Inuzuka. From search and rescues to assassinations- we can't have them all in the same place."

Kiba frowned softly at him from his spot on the floor surrounded by all of the files that had been dumped at Shikaku's office that morning, "You don't think I know that? Seriously, how long have I been helping you out with this, Nara?"

"More than a week now. Which is exactly why-"

"Exactly! Like two weeks now! I know what I'm doing, old man." Kiba huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm putting all of the classified ones together at first. Then, once I know how many classified ones I've got, I'll divide 'em. Come on, dude, I've got a _system_."

Shikaku frowned at the emphasis on the word, unsure if Kiba truly understood exactly what it was that he was doing. But he soon sighed and shrugged, "Continue with your system, then."

The Inuzuka nodded with a pleased huff and focused back on his current task.

Shikaku looked at him, made sure that he was at least putting all of the classified files together as he said he would, then turned back to his own work.

"Oi, Nara, aren't you getting hungry?"

Kiba had been getting much more comfortable around him. He didn't stumble over his title whenever they were alone anymore. But he didn't call him Shikaku either. Instead, he used a mixture of nicknames and the ever expected use of his last name to call for him.

"I've got to complete these reports before midnight, Inuzuka." The older male looked over at Kiba to find him staring back at him, eyes wide and slightly surprised. Immediately, Shikaku knew that he was thinking of something. "What?"

For a couple of seconds, the teenager just blinked. But he soon shook his head and shrugged, raising his hand to scratch at his cheek, "Nothing… S'just… I never thought a Nara would care so much about actually _finishing_ things."

Kiba was an incredibly honest individual once he gained some semblance of trust in someone.

With a deadpan look that showed off how incredibly unimpressed he was, Shikaku muttered, "I don't think that even deserves a response from me."

Kiba huffed and shook his head to glance back down at his work, but Shikaku was more than sure that he'd been smirking when he'd looked away from him.

Damn kid- such a snarky one.

This was good, though. For both of them. Kiba opening up to him meant that he was slowly being trusted by the Inuzuka. And that meant that, when the time came and they would be forced to live in the same house, Shikaku wouldn't have to worry about actual animosity from him. Maybe reluctance and disdain. But not the same hate that he'd been subjected to during their first meeting.

"Anyway, y'know they want us to go on a date tonight. So you shouldn't wait 'til midnight to finish everything."

Shikaku was aware of this. Although they had both avoided the subject of having to go out on dates for as long as they had been able to.

Shikaku had not yet heard any whispers about them. But he was very much aware that it was only a matter of time before shinobi around the village began to chatter about why the Nara Clan Head spent so much time with the Inuzuka Clan Heir; especially seeing how they spent so much time together now that Kiba had forced his way into his office.

Even though his teammates were back in the Village, the kid still somehow managed to make time for his team training, his personal training, and helping Shikaku in the office.

"I will try my best to finish up before midnight." The man murmured softly with a slight roll of his eyes, "Just make sure to not mix up-"

"The classified missions with the classified land disputes." Kiba interrupted with a look of annoyed contempt at the Nara, "And to make sure that all of the T&I reports stay separated from the Hunting and Tracking missions because Ibiki and Musashi cannot stand one another."

It was true. Musashi Inuzuka could not stand Ibiki Morino. And even though the Head of T&I tended to be diplomatic and curt with all of his interactions, even he had a limit for tolerating disrespect. When it came to their individual sectors, it would be best to keep them as separated from one another as was humanly possible.

For a moment, Shikaku stared at him with a harsh glare. "I was right."

Kiba pursed his lips, a flash of worry appearing in his eyes, all sort of ease immediately leaving him.

Shikaku _hated_ when the kid did this. It didn't happen frequently now, luckily enough. But Kiba would suddenly get sullen and quiet at the most random times...

"You _are_ Tsume's kid."

Kiba's eyes widened for a couple of seconds. But then they narrowed and he hissed, "Of course I'm her kid! How else would I get your ass into motion?"

"I don't need anybody to tell me what to do. Much less someone as young as you."

Despite the moment of severity Shikaku had unintentionally created, they were both able to calm down and return to their natural, albeit a tiny bit odd (at least for the Nara) banter.

"If I hadn't reminded you about Musashi's recent intel and how you needed to look it over before you handed it to the Hokage, you would've slept straight through the afternoon." Kiba deadpanned, which made Shikaku wave him off.

"I would've eventually read it all."

"You would have lost sleep trying to finish that. Dude, you're a procrastinator."

Shikaku frowned softly, although he was a bit more than amused with the Inuzuka inside of his office.

Kiba was a lot like his mother, but, at the same time, very different. Shikaku had never thought he would think such a thing, but he found himself actively enjoying spending time with him. And the large stack of paperwork hidden inside of his closet- which was supposed to have been used for small, extremely important cases, not for the piles of overwhelming papers he'd stuffed inside- had been brought down substantially in the kid's time working with him. Really, Shikaku couldn't complain about the help Kiba had been recently.

"Just get back to work."

* * *

By the time Shikaku had finally finished the most important of the Hokage's reports; Kiba had managed to organize all of the documents given to him, hand over the most time sensitive ones to their rightful handlers, and even stopped to buy some dango.

Right now the teenager stood by the office's doorway, eyeing the wooden door behind Shikaku with a distrusting glare.

He'd opened that door earlier during the week, being naïve and unaware of the dangers that had lurked inside. And he'd wound up beneath an avalanche of paper and files that had left him cursing everything Nara and ever having agreed to help the man organize his office.

Sure, he wasn't one for numbers. He _hated_ math. But office work asked him to put things in their place and sometimes he was able to run off to hand things in. It was boring when he and Shikaku weren't talking, but at least he managed to kill time away from the Inuzuka Compound. Because he refused to stay in there all day, he would train during the mornings, then head on over to Shikaku's office to both bother him and help him organize.

Hinata and Shino were always out on missions. Akamaru was still being kept with Hana in the Clinic during the days; they could only actually spend time together at night. And Kiba had never felt so isolated from those he loved before.

Quite frankly, the only good that had come out of the time spent in Shikaku's office was that Kiba had found out that he could, if he put his mind to it, actually organize and make things look nice rather than just pummel and destroy.

"There aren't any more piles in there, Inuzuka. You shouldn't glare at it as if it were some monster that wanted to eat you."

Kiba glared over at the overly calm man, pulling the stick of dango he'd been munching on out of his mouth, "That's what it wants you to think… You weren't trapped under that much paper, dude. You wouldn't know how scary it is down there."

Shikaku rolled his eyes and motioned for him to begin walking, his office left pristine and spotless after he'd finished packing everything up.

Kiba walked into the hallway outside of the office and waited for the man to lock up, then pulled out the second stick of dango he'd bought from the bag in his jacket's pocket and offered it up.

Even though he wasn't big on sharing, Shikaku had helped him out a lot during the past week. When he'd stopped to buy the sugary treat for himself, he'd been told that there was a two for one special in that specific bakery. So, immediately, he'd thought about eating two sticks instead of just one. On his walk back to Shikaku's office, though, he'd remembered that the Nara he would be meeting happened to eat as well.

For a couple of minutes, he'd struggled with himself over whether he should give Shikaku the stick or not. But then his mind had reminded him how much Shikaku had helped him out and he'd relented that the guy deserved something.

He didn't see Shikaku's expression; he kept his eyes down on the floor so he wouldn't have to. But after a couple of seconds of standing in pure silence, the Nara grabbed the stick.

"Thanks, kid."

Kiba had shrugged, then looked up at the hallway they would walk down. "We should get going. It's getting late."

Night had already set and Kiba was more than aware that they would only have a couple of hours to be seen by the largest amount of people.

So they began to walk aimlessly around Konoha.

Kiba didn't really have a place where he wanted to go and eat- his appetite had kind of vanished as they had talked with Kushina- and Shikaku was being his usual, quiet self.

As they had walked around, they'd wound up walking to the busier sector of Konoha- the marketplace. Even though it was already night, people were still hustling and bustling around, selling their wares and taking advantage of the night life.

Kiba balanced the empty stick of his already eaten dango in his mouth, although Shikaku had already thrown his out.

"I've got nothing. Walking around counts?"

Kiba smirked softly at Shikaku's voice, which sounded both annoyed and amused at the same time, but shrugged. "Maybe it'll count this time."

"I hope it is. Walking around takes a lot of effort."

* * *

Tsume was in his office.

There was no reason for her to be here. So Shikaku immediately knew she wanted something.

He had returned to his office after he and Kiba had said goodbye after they had walked around the marketplace without really doing much other than talking. They had stopped to buy some finger foods, but nothing too dazzling.

He had forgotten to hand in the Hokage's reports. His date with Kiba had managed to distract him enough to make him forget the one thing he had been working on the whole day. And, even though he would have loved nothing more than to return home after having walked so much, those reports needed to be in the Hokage's hands before midnight. So he had done the unthinkable and returned to get the documents and hand them over.

When he'd entered his hallway, it had been to find the light inside his office on. And when he'd looked inside, it had been to find Kiba's mother, her large dog seated beside his couch; much like the last time they had come in unexpectedly.

"What do you want?"

Her past words still echoed around in his head from time to time. He still could not understand why she had thought it was important to inform him about Inuzuka nap patterns. To him, this bit of information had made zero sense.

"Course you would know I want somethin'..." The woman turned away from the documents she had been sifting through- the very documents he needed to give to the Hokage- and looked up at him. "You need to tell Kiba to lay off of Hagane. His friendship with him is stirring up more rumors than what's safe."

Shikaku immediately frowned back at her; did she not consider this to be sudden? "You want me to tell _your son_ that he can't be friends with someone? Hmm... Sounds like something a _parent_ would have to do."

Admittedly, his reply was rather uncalled for. But he was tired, had been forced to correct an idiotic mistake he never should have committed, and was now stuck talking with Tsume.

Did she really have to break into her office to tell him such a thing? Couldn't this have waited for a normal time?

"Don't you get snippy with me, Nara." She hissed, "My son wouldn't listen to me even if I was his last ally."

For a brief flash, Shikaku swore he could see regret in Tsume's face. But, just as quickly as it had come, it was gone; replaced with a harsh glare.

"I'm tired. You broke into my office in the middle of the night. I believe I have a right to be snippy." He conceded, even though, he admitted once again, it wasn't much of a diplomatic answer. But his attention was soon taken by another matter, "How are there already rumors?"

Kiba had once made an offhanded comment about going to lunch with Kotetsu. He'd explained that he was good friends with the member of the Hagane Clan. But, aside from that, there had been no reason for him to worry over that friendship. Even his Elders hadn't said anything on the matter.

"They're just a couple of guppies." She admitted, "Nothing too big... Apparently, they spent a lot of time together when that Hagane idiot was serving time in library duty... Look, my Elders want them to stay completely separated. I know that that may be the last straw my son will suffer before he tries to leave Konoha again."

Fear for Kiba suddenly entered Shikaku. And he immediately tried to change Tsume's mind. "I highly doubt he would have already tried to leave Konoha, Tsume. Yes, the arranged marriage might have caught him by surprise-"

He stopped when he noticed the amused smirk on her lips. "Words can be lies, Nara. Scents, though... Well, _those_ are always honest."

 _Dammit_.

He should have known Tsume would known something about Kiba's escape attempt from so long ago. He had been a fool to never even have thought about the possibility of his Clan knowing such a thing.

"Listen, I don't give a damn about that or Hagane's friendship. Kotetsu's a good kid; although just as stupid as my son... There's only one way the Elders will back off from making Kiba lose that friend." Tsume placed both of her hands firmly on the desk behind her, leaning into it as she glared directly into his eyes.

Shikaku glared back, body tensed for the battle it seemed Tsume was prepared to take part in.

Kuromaru was behind him; not directly, a couple of paces of away. He was a threat, but not the immediate one. Tsume was the real danger at the moment. So Shikaku shifted his weight just a bit to be in a better vantage point to dodge in case she suddenly decided to lunge him.

"And what would that solution be, Tsume?"

The smirk on her lips was no longer malicious or proud... If anything, it was downright _mischievous._

Nothing good could come from that look.

..~..~..

Please review!


	13. Chapter 13

Pairings: (Past) Yoshino/Shikaku, Shikaku/Kiba, Inoichi/Yasuko. (Mentioned) Asuma/Kurenai.

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult. And some more angst.

~..~..~

He managed to successfully evade Hinata and Shino for a good three weeks. Those were the weeks in which he barricaded himself inside of Shikaku's office and only trained at night. Those were the weeks in which he actively did everything possible to not have an excuse to be anywhere near their scents.

The end of this avoiding tactic came when he woke up to find his mother calling for him on a normal looking Monday morning.

He woke up with an annoyed groan leaving his lips. Getting up had recently become the worst thing in the world, seeing how falling asleep had become one of the most difficult challenges to hit him recently. He managed to sleep now; it just didn't come to him as easily within his own home as it had once been. And sometimes the trouble falling asleep was accompanied by horrible nightmares that made him wake up covered in a cold sweat. These nightmares usually varied, but shared one common denominator: the overall weirdness of the people that appeared in them.s

Chouji had once appeared in a nightmare. Yeah, that lovable cinnamon roll that could do no wrong? He had tried to slice Kiba's arm off before the floor had broken beneath their feet and Kiba had crashed into consciousness.

Sleeping was not a comfort. He did not like having to sleep, but he knew that he needed to sleep if he wanted to keep up with his nightly training schedule.

Even now he made a point to ignore the little voice in the back of his head that pointed out how he never had any trouble napping on Shikaku's sofa.

He got dressed, grabbed his jacket from his room's chair but didn't put it on, walked towards his kitchen, and grabbed an apple for a quick breakfast. As he bit into it and looked around for his sandals, his nose finally caught up with the muffled message his mother had yelled at him but he had not been able to make out.

Hinata and Shino were here.

As his blood ran cold, the Inuzuka's eyes widened.

Could he escape through the backdoor?

He bit into his apple harshly to keep it from falling from his mouth and began to move for the door at the very back of his house. His retreat was cut short, though, when he heard someone clearing their throat.

He froze.

"K-Kiba-kun… Are you… Are you trying to escape?"

Kiba winced. He couldn't deny it. He had been caught by both Shino and Hinata trying to leave without them noticing and that _must_ have stung them.

He was being kind of petty, in their eyes. They only knew the censored and cleaned up version of what had happened to their Clans and him. So, in their minds, he truly was being unreasonable. Even though he knew that he had a right to be annoyed that his Clan Elders were playing at gods and peons, they were none the wiser.

To them, he was being a brat.

Quite frankly, he hated it whenever he looked at something from the other person's point of view. It usually wound up with making him feel like the worst person in the world. He still thought he had a right to act the way he did, seeing how he was the one that was being affected the worst, but it still made him feel kind of bad.

"We must speak, Kiba. We cannot continue as we have for the past weeks."

They hadn't really done anything in the past weeks. Kiba had done everything humanly possible to avoid the continuation of anything between them. But he wasn't about to point that out to Shino; not when he was directly looking for conversation and closure.

This wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Clan issues were not the kind of issues he liked. Then again, he had never liked getting involved in anything that didn't affect him _directly_ , so it was really no surprise that he did not like the idea of getting involved with drama that had literally _nothing_ to do with him.

For Shikaku Nara to ask for a favor, though, meant that he really needed the help. And if Asuma knew one thing, it was that Shikaku would never drag someone into any mess unless he felt that he had no other solution.

Kiba was a good kid. He could be impetuous, impulsive, _and young_ ; but that didn't take away the fact that he could be a good kid. What had been decided for him could make _anyone's_ blood boil, so Asuma couldn't really blame him for trying to run away from Konoha all that time ago. Hell, if he had been in the kid's shoes, he was pretty certain he would have tried a similar tactic of escape just to get away from being married off to some old guy.

Shikaku had asked him to step in, though, and make sure the Inuzuka stayed in the Village until he was able to clear things up. And, from the way things were going now, Asuma liked to believe that whatever issues there may have been between the Clan Heir and Clan Head were already cleared up.

The issues between the Clan Heir and his team and teacher, though… Well, they were still pretty alive, from what Kurenai was telling him.

"I can't even talk to him, Asuma. I haven't seen him for weeks now."

She didn't know about Kiba's arranged marriage. It wasn't her place to know and it wasn't Asuma's place to tell her.

They were talking in his apartment. He had invited the woman over for their weekly breakfast and he was currently finishing up with the food he had been making.

They tried to eat the three different meals of the day at least once together. He usually made breakfast because his culinary skills didn't transcend much farther than that. Kurenai would try and make a lunch or a dinner at her apartment. And this meal sharing was their way of keeping their relationship strong, even with every chaotic little thing around them.

Their kids had always been a topic they talked about abundantly. But it had only been recently that they both had found themselves worrying over one member of their genin teams more than the other two.

Shikamaru was doing fine… And that terrified Asuma.

He'd lost his mother recently. It had been more than a month now, yes, but that wasn't long enough to grieve his mother properly. Shikamaru had always been a private sort of person, but it was worrying that he had seemed to take his mother's passing so peacefully. Asuma hadn't even seen him shed a single tear in the memorial service that had been held for those that had been lost in the surprise attack that had rocked the Clans.

Shikamaru acted as if nothing had happened. He went about his days as normally as before. The only thing he didn't do as often as he had once frequently done was complain over all the work he now did.

In a Nara that lazy, it wasn't normal for them to not whine at least a little bit.

With a soft sigh, Asuma grabbed the salt to add a little to what he was cooking, and, once finished with it, returned the container to its rightful place in his less than stellar spice cabinet.

"Hasn't he been spending the past few weeks working for Shikaku?"

The rumors that he had heard until now were tame compared to what the Clan Elders undoubtedly wanted to run around. They were merely betting pools over just how it was that the Inuzuka had wound up working for the Nara- the most convoluted reason he had heard until now was a gambling debt Kiba needed to work off after a bad night betting on dog races- and explanations as to how it was that they had even met.

The woman opened up his refrigerator, undoubtedly moving to serve their drinks, "I think so. But, honestly, I don't know what's going on in his life anymore… The only thing I know is that I received a scroll from Tsume Inuzuka two weeks ago excusing him and Akamaru from training. She said that it wouldn't make sense for him to continue training with me if it would just be him…"

"Just him?" Asuma asked, turning to look at her as she served the orange juice into their cups. "She didn't mention Akamaru?"

"That's part of the weirdness of it… The letter said Akamaru wouldn't be with Kiba… He's helping Hana out at the Inuzuka's Clinic."

"That's not normal."

"I know, right?" Kurenai huffed out, returning the container of juice back to the refrigerator after having served their drinks. "Aren't Inuzuka partners supposed to be kept together at all times? It's just weird to have them separated like this…"

Asuma grunted softly as he turned off his stove and grabbed the plates he would need to serve the breakfast he had made.

It _was_ weird.

But it wasn't his problem.

"Hey!"

Oh no.

"Maybe it's some kind of male thing… Do you think you could go ahead and talk to Kiba?"

"Kurenai-" The man turned to her to explain to her why that wouldn't be a good idea.

He was faced with her looking at him with such wide and hopeful eyes that the argument died in his mouth.

"He doesn't want to talk to me because he blames me for not having been assigned on a mission. But he can't possibly hate you for that- you may actually be able to talk to him and make him see reason. Please?"

He was not the kind to allow himself to get involved in other people's problems.

But Kurenai knew he was a sucker for her bright red eyes.

The man sighed and turned back to the food so he could finish plating it.

It seemed his easy day just got a bit busier.

~/~

He had things he needed to finish before he went through with Kurenai's petition. So Asuma did his best to finish everything he actually needed to finish before went and chanced an Inuzuka's ire simply because his girlfriend had asked him to help.

Midnight training wasn't really something he would consider to be a bright idea. But that was simply because Asuma was the kind of guy that enjoyed a good night's sleep. But, hey, he knew there were some people that didn't like sleeping as much as he did- even though they were completely strange and weird people he wasn't keen on interacting with.

When he found Kiba and Akamaru, it was to witness the human half of their partnership disappear into the ground while Akamaru performed a series of harsh spins against the poor practice target he was aiming for that Asuma felt kind of bad for the inanimate object.

He had no idea Akamaru could get so violent in battle.

The man leaned against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Kiba appear from the ground a few seconds after Akamaru had finished his own attack, delivering a powerful uppercut that knocked the practice dummy out of its stand so it could fly off quite a few feet away.

Both Inuzuka Clan members were left panting after that show of power and Asuma decided it was about time they knew he was around.

"Pretty powerful stuff, kid."

Kiba turned to him with a wild and almost terrified look in his eyes as soon as he heard him.

Even though he wouldn't voice it out loud, it kind of hurt that the kid didn't trust him. But he could understand why he felt that he was a threat. It sucked, but he could understand.

"Calm down. I'm not here to fight you."

The frown the kid sported as he forced his body to straighten up let the man know that he didn't necessarily believe him.

With a soft sigh, Asuma made a point of walking as slowly as a normal person would towards him, all the while he said, "I'm not going to beat around the bush, Inuzuka. Kurenai sent me. She wants me to talk some sense into you."

"Why would she send _you_?"

Asuma groaned softly at the pure defensiveness the kid was exuding, "I'm guessing she thought it would be easier for you to talk to a guy about whatever it was that she did to piss you off. Because she is starting to think that you hate her."

The frown on his face melted just slightly. It lost its harsh edge to instead more confused; even his eyebrows drew in as he looked down in contemplation at the floor. "But... I don't hate her... Why would she think that?"

"Because you stopped talking to her, spend your days locked up in Shikaku's office, and don't really try to communicate with either her or your teammates."

Kiba sighed heavily as Akamaru padded up to him, lacing his fingers into the dog's thick fur. "Today's just a day of heartfelt conversations..." Now he looked up at Asuma, an almost hollow look in his eyes, "Did Kurenai-sensei tell you anything about sending Shino and Hinata to talk with me?"

"I wouldn't know." He shrugged and frowned seriously at the teenager, "Listen, I know that what you're going through is tough, but if you wanted to keep this whole marriage business a secret-"

"I don't!" Kiba snapped, "I don't even want to get married! But nobody gives a damn about what I want or how I'm feeling!" He turned his glare back onto the floor, avoiding eye contact with Asuma yet again. "I have to act as if I'm fine but I'm not... I just got my ass chewed out by my teammates because I can't even _tell_ them why I don't want to see them while they're in the Village... I don't want to have to hear you telling me to suck it up..."

"Kid..." Asuma sighed, rubbed his face with his hand, then looked over the training grounds.

Clearly, Kiba had been using this specific clearing to release some aggression for a while. The ground was all scuffed up and there were even trails and patches of dirt that weren't covered by grass anymore.

He came to a decision when he noticed just how tightly Kiba had balled his fists.

"Fine. I won't tell you anything. Just do me a favor?"

"What?" He asked through gritted teeth, even though he made a point of continuing to glare at the floor.

"Fight me."

" _What_?"

Asuma smirked when his confused eyes finally looked up.

"Fight me. With everything you've got. Don't hold anything back."

"Why?" Kiba didn't trust him and he was making it extremely clear.

He shrugged, then offered, "You clearly don't want to talk. And you've gotten stronger. Call me curious- I want to find out if these late night training sessions have been worth your time."

He was lying through his teeth because he _didn't_ care. But he needed a reason to give Kiba. And this was the best he could come up with that wouldn't make Kiba even angrier.

"What's the catch?"

"Nothing. I just want to see if you can kick my ass."

Kiba sneered minutely, then looked down at Akamaru. The dog growled softly at him, moving his head just slightly in what seemed to be a nod.

Asuma found himself fighting a much more capable Inuzuka duo that night. He was pushed much farther than he believed they would force him; he had expected an easy match, not an actual contest.

Still, by the time Kiba had fought off most of his aggression, they had all been left panting, tired, and much more relaxed than before.

Asuma liked to believe that the kid liked him just a little bit more after that night.

* * *

Shino had made him feel like a child for having acted the way he did.

Hinata had tried to get him to tell her what was truly bothering her.

Asuma didn't tell him anything. He just offered him a good fight.

Out of those three, Kiba found himself hating Asuma the least.

His friends just wanted things to go back to the way they had once been... But Kiba wasn't sure if he could ever do such a thing. His whole life was changing right before his eyes and he had no way to stop it from leaving his control. That man didn't really offer him any sort of comfort, but at least he hadn't told him to suck it up and deal with everything that was going on.

Still, Kiba knew that he'd been going about everything in the worst way. He wasn't supposed to be so obvious over what was happening to him. He couldn't let anybody question what his Clan might have planned for him.

With a sigh, the Inuzuka ran his hand through his disheveled hair and looked towards the training grounds. The rest of Team 8 was there already, most probably running some beginning drills before they got into anything too difficult.

He had to suck it up, no matter how much he didn't want to.

His team had no idea what was going on. They weren't the ones making him get married. They were actually the ones that cared enough about him that they were worried over his well being.

"I can do this."

Shino had been a jerk. But he didn't know any better.

Hinata just wanted to help him.

It wasn't their fault they were sent out on missions and he wasn't.

He didn't have Akamaru with him today. Hana had taken him with her to the Clinic before he had even woken up. So he would be running exercises missing his other half.

"I can do this."

He didn't believe himself.

But he forced himself to make an effort.

* * *

Shikaku's day didn't feel the same without Kiba inside of his office with him. It was weird to not have him shuffling papers, questioning orders the Hokage had made, and asking why he allowed said Hokage to make some decisions.

Tsume had been kind enough to explain to him that the reason why Kiba wasn't around anymore was because he was making an actual effort to reconcile with the team he'd abandoned some weeks back.

Tsume Inuzuka... Shikaku didn't hate her. He didn't like her either. He respected the woman and he could admit that she was much smarter than she let most people believe. But she was _too_ smart. And she used that intelligence for mischief and to amuse herself.

The plan she had proposed to get the Elders to not break Kiba's friendship with Kotetsu Hagane... It wasn't _evil_. And, yes, it would make the Elders back off and leave Kiba to be for a little bit if the kid was lucky.

But it was so _sudden_.

Shikaku wasn't sure if he could go through with such a thing.

So he didn't seek Kiba out- he wanted to be sure if he wanted to go through with Tsume's plan before he actually spoke with the Inuzuka.

When he entered his office on Wednesday morning, it was to find the teenager laying down on his couch, his large dog rested on the floor in front of him. In his hands the kid had a file that Shikaku had not seen before. And when Shikaku walked in, Kiba looked up at him with a broad smile on his lips.

"Good morning! Inoichi let me in and left me with these classified files."

Shikaku had to suppress the sigh he wanted to release upon hearing this, "Something tells me you don't know what the word means."

"What? Me? Of course I know what me means."

Kiba was in a happier mood. That was good to see.

"Aren't you supposed to be training with your team?" He asked the teen as he made his way towards his desk and sat down, immediately frowning when he noticed the piles of paperwork he had left the night before had grown overnight.

"Nope. Kurenai-sensei was called off on a mission. I'm going to meet up with Shino and Hinata for lunch, though."

"Oh?"

"Mm-hmm." The kid walked up to him and dropped Inoichi's files on the pile, a faraway look in his eyes. "I'm trying to get them to forgive me."

Shikaku was legitimately curious as to what it was the kid was talking about. But he was frowning now, an almost pained expression taking over his features.

The last thing he wanted to do was add to that pain.

"Well then... I guess you'll have to keep busy until lunch time."

"Maybe... What're you proposing?"

Shikaku smiled and pointed towards the documents that had not been placed inside of their proper files. "Organizing. And then, if you do a good job, we can go for ice cream tonight."

He didn't even finish his sentence.

The promise of ice cream was enough to have Kiba moving.

Shikaku hadn't even known that Kiba liked ice cream. He just knew that the kid had a sweet tooth that beat even an Akimichi's. So he had mentioned the sugary treat coincidentally.

Apparently, Kiba _really_ liked ice cream.

Who'd have thought?

~/~

He'd planned on going out and eating something for dinner before they went to get the ice cream. But he'd learned to recognize Kiba's moods over the course of the week. And when he paled and didn't speak much, he knew that getting food into him was as fruitless as telling an Akimichi that they shouldn't use so much butter in their baking. So, instead of heading to get food, Shikaku had decided to cut his losses and directed Kiba directly towards the ice cream shop.

Luckily enough, Kiba had not questioned him at all. He'd just walked with him, both silent but not awkwardly so.

Kiba had returned to his office from his lunch with an almost haunted look in his eyes. He had legitimately looked as if he had seen a ghost. Akamaru had been with him and had remained close to his side, only leaving him when Kiba laid down on his couch and seemed to fall asleep.

Shikaku desperately wanted to know what in the world had happened to make the Inuzuka's good mood vanish without a single trace. But he didn't think he would get a straight answer if he actually tried to find out from him.

Hopefully, Kiba would tell him if it truly was a pressing matter...

He had continued to work as normally as possible until night fell and it was acceptable for him to leave. Time trickled by at a snail's pace as worry gnawed at him and Kiba remained quiet. Then he had told the boy that they could go and get ice cream and Kiba had followed him without asking him a single thing.

It wasn't proper dinner... But he had promised Kiba ice cream. And he never broke his promises.

Shikaku wasn't a big fan of sweets. He didn't hate them. But he preferred actual food to the sweet treats that many around him seemed to enjoy. Unfortunately, Kiba was one of those people that had an unrelenting sweet tooth.

When they reached the entrance of the shop, Kiba entered without a single moment's hesitation. Akamaru followed after him without even sparing a glance at Shikaku to make sure he was still following.

With a soft sigh, Shikaku pushed his hands into his pants' pockets and followed the kid inside of the shop. It was a cozy little one although not big enough to handle too many customers. But it also had a small selection of the frozen treats, which made Shikaku guess that this was either a budding business or it just didn't cater to large masses of people.

"You know," He began, breaking the silence that had hung over them since Kiba had come back from lunch. "Ice cream doesn't really count as dinner."

He was grasping at straws with the Inuzuka. He had no idea what could have happened to him to have left him in such a state- hadn't he been extremely happy that morning? But he had to try _something_. He couldn't stand the silence around them.

It wasn't right for an Inuzuka to be so quiet.

He refused to acknowledge the relief that flooded him when he caught sight of the slightest upward curve in the corner of the kid's lips.

"I haven't had ice cream in forever." He shuffled quietly for a moment, as if he wasn't sure what else he should say. "And you should treat yourself every once in a while, Nara. It's good for your body to eat ice cream."

No. It was _not_ good for the body to eat ice cream. It did the taste buds good, but not the body. But Shikaku didn't find it within himself to try and tell this to the still affected teenager.

Snarky replies and bordering on insulting words were what Shikaku had become accustomed to when it came to Kiba. Sadness and silence was another thing he had grown used to, but it was something he _knew_ wasn't normal for him.

Shikaku allowed the smallest of smiles to appear on his lips when Kiba turned a lopsided smile to him.

Okay... Kiba was sad and quiet... But he was good enough to try and make banter with him. That was progress.

By the time they had reached the front of the counter- the line hadn't been too big, but it hadn't been small either-, Kiba was already sure about what he would buy. As if he was able to momentarily shake off the sadness that had controlled him, the Inuzuka prattled off a rather large order that even the server had seemed surprised by and Shikaku was sure would be somewhat pricey. But once he'd finished with that, he'd pointed at him, "What do you want?"

Shikaku was caught somewhat off guard, but had answered that he wanted simple vanilla. The worker had seemed relieved at that.

Before he had even been able to pull out his wallet to pay, Kiba had smacked down the amount of money Shikaku guessed would be needed to pay everything.

It was odd to not pay for the food this time around. When they bought lunch, they would both give money. But he had expected that, just like on their first date, he would be paying.

He wasn't complaining; although, he did worry over this.

Why would Kiba feel the need to pay? Out of them both, he was the one with the least amount of money. And he'd never been bothered by Shikaku paying before... Maybe he was overthinking things?

Shikaku closed his eyes in frustration as they waited in silence for their ice cream.

Sometimes, thinking was the worst thing he could do.

Because the ice cream shop wasn't too big, they both came to the unspoken decision that it would be for the best to walk and eat their ice cream. Even though Kiba's sundae was as big as his hand, he hadn't said anything about trying to stay in the shop. Instead, he'd made a beeline directly for the door once he'd gotten his meal.

As they walked around the mostly peaceful streets of Konoha in silence, Shikaku contemplated over how he should try to start up a conversation with him to try and help him.

Luckily, he didn't have to think too much on this matter.

"The Elders... When I was returning to your office from my lunch with Shino and Hinata... One of them stopped me."

* * *

Kiba had been having a good day before he'd wound up having to speak with the annoying shriveled husk of an excuse for a human.

He and Shikaku had been able to keep a mostly pleasant relationship. They weren't doing anything scandalous in public- Kiba refused to have to go through such drastic measures just to keep his Elders pleased. Kiba actually liked it whenever they went out together because Shikaku made him feel as if they were just two acquaintances that could talk without anybody pressuring them.

Today he had been reminded rather harshly what he needed to do.

"Apparently... My Elders are getting impatient."

Chifuyu was a bitch. Even his mom hated her. But she was the head bitch. And she had made it more than just clear what the Elders wanted to see of him in the next month.

"What do they want?" Shikaku asked softly.

When Kiba looked up at him, it was to find his eyes filled with so much worry that he felt his heart seized.

Shikaku was a good man. He had been given some pretty shitty cards and he'd done the best he could to follow through with them. Not only was he trying to keep his Clan and Elders happy, but he also kept Kiba's best interest always in mind.

... He could have wound up getting married to a heartless bastard... At least he could admit he was lucky enough to be arranged to marry Shikaku Nara.

"Public affection."

He spit out the words- he _hated_ them.

How could the Elders ask such a thing out of them? How could they expect Shikaku to be okay with having to act like some kind of lovey-dovey couple in front of all of Konoha? How could they-

"That's what's got you so worried?"

Kiba blinked in sudden confusion, losing his train of thought as soon as Shikaku asked him such a thing.

"You... You don't mind?"

He had been brooding the whole day over how he was supposed to tell Shikaku. He had been trapped inside of his head this whole time mulling over the best way to not anger the Nara by saying such a thing.

Shikaku dared smile at him.

"I tend to go with the flow, Inuzuka." The man breathed out a sigh that sounded extremely relieved... and suddenly Kiba noticed that Shikaku had been worried about him the whole day.

... he was an idiot.

"So... What do you think we should do?"

Shikaku hummed for a moment, looked around the sparse crowd around them, and smiled down at him, "I'll put my arm around your shoulders. If you hate it, I'll take it back. How's that?"

Kiba glared down at his ice cream as he mulled over Shikaku's words, took a small scoop of it, and brought the delicious treat to his mouth. Then he glanced down at Akamaru to find the dog looking up at him expectantly- as if waiting for him to tell the Nara to do it.

"... We can start with that..."

He had spent a whole day brooding... Just to have Shikaku take everything in strides.

Maybe he _had_ overreacted...

* * *

Tsume had told him that the way to get onto the Elders good side was to start showing some PDA. Shikaku had not dared bring the idea up to Kiba because he had been worried the kid would take it hard.

With what he found out, he knew that he'd done right by not telling Kiba about his mother's plan. If he had taken it bad when one of his Elders had told him... Then, there was no telling how he might have taken it if he had known it had been his mother's idea.

Quite frankly, it felt as if a boulder had been lifted from his shoulders now that he knew what had been bothering Kiba.

Taking a step towards the Inuzuka, Shikaku brought his arm up and around his shoulders. He brought the kid closer to him just a bit, not intent on trespassing on his personal space, then looked down at him.

Quietly, the kid munched at his ice cream.

"Hate it?"

It took him a beat to mumble out, "Not completely..."

Shikaku had to stop himself from laughing at that.

This kid... He'd be the death of him.

..~..~..

Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult. And some more angst. Friends are kind of extreme jerks, really, and they don't even notice it.

~..~..~

Kiba hated everyone and he wanted to see the world burn until it was nothing more than ashes beneath his feet.

There was a mission he had been perfect for. The mission had even specifically asked for Team 8 to go on it- the buyer _wanted them_.

He wasn't allowed to go.

He hadn't been allowed to go on a mission that had asked for him _specifically_.

His Elders _sucked_. He hated them the most. If it wasn't for them, then he wouldn't currently be stuck trying to make the Village slowly begin to think he and Shikaku Nara were dating- which, if the rumors were right, was still not on the minds of people, which proved that shinobi weren't as maliciously minded as he had once thought.

Hinata and Shino were both taken aback to find out that a mission that they'd been asked to complete had been given to another tracking team. They weren't as angered as Kiba, but they had not been the ones stuck in the Village for a whole goddamn _month_ dealing with paperwork and annoying Nara's.

Well… Calling Shikaku annoying was just overkill. He was nice enough, took him out to nice meals- that were planned by the Elders, of course- and treated him like an actual person rather than some item that was to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. But he had the bad luck of having been there for most of the month, so he was also being associated with anger and bad things.

"B-But…" Kiba couldn't believe he was near begging, but he just wanted to be able to leave the Village.

He _needed_ to stretch his legs! He needed to go out and smell more than just the stationary smells of Konoha life! He needed to jump into deep rivers, run over treacherous terrain, and eat mushrooms that may or may not induce hallucinations and/or paralysis!

"I'm sorry, Kiba." Lord Minato shrugged softly as he glanced over the paperwork on his desk- his eyes had not locked onto Kiba's _once_ during their conversation, "The mission's already been handed off. You three can just wait for another one to pop up. But that could take a while…"

"Understood, Lord Hokage." Shino's voice was finite, letting Kiba know that there really was no reason to try and fight.

But he hadn't been stuck in the Village this whole time… Although, there was just a _tiny bit_ of shrewd happiness that came from the fact that they would not be going on another mission just yet.

Suppressing the heavy sigh he _really_ wanted to let go, Kiba and Akamaru followed after his friends. They trudged out of the Hokage Office, Kiba feeling unbelievably disappointed with how his day was going.

First, he'd been subjected to 'the talk' from his mother for some reason he still couldn't understand. There had been something about Elders and safe sex and something... All that mattered was that his mother had completed that mission perfectly; Kiba didn't think he'd even want to look down at himself after the pictures he had seen… He had honestly thought that his mother could not traumatize him anymore than she'd already done the first time around when he'd been a genin… He'd been so wrong it was scary…

After that horrifying experience, he'd wound up having to sit down with some of the Clan's best 'partner groomers', for the Elders wanted to begin to groom him into the perfect husband.

Just the _thought_ of those words together had Kiba disgusted. By having to kneel there and learn all about how to clean a home, cook a delicious meal, proper rituals for tea, and other things he never would have learned if he'd never been forced into this damned marriage, Kiba honestly believed a good choice would be to just become a missing nin rather than go through all of this.

It couldn't be so hard; a life on the run, he meant. Yeah, he'd never be able to see his family or friends ever again because they'd most probably want to bring him in… But a life running away from shinobi from his village sounded a thousand times more stomachable than having to pick out proper outfits for dates and breaking one's mind over trying to decide the best ingredients for the best meals. Both of which were things he still didn't think were worth the effort.

Quite frankly, Kiba could not believe that this was the life some women were prepared to live from their births. And, even more so, he found it hard to believe that _his_ Clan actually perpetuated this sort of life; weren't they supposed to be progressive and equalists?

… Unfortunately, his Clan _was_ promoting equality. After he'd finished his lesson, he could see two other males fidgeting outside the learning hall, three females smiling comfortingly at them. The males and one female had displayed their Inuzuka tattoos proudly, by the other females were from outside of the clan from their clear lack of fangs.

Life _sucked_.

Then, as if his day hadn't been _horrible enough_ , he'd met up with Shino and Hinata, more than eager to finally get rid of some of his anxieties and worries through violence on the newest mission they were supposed to have been assigned to, only to find out that they would _not_ be going on a mission.

How could Lord Minato be so mean to him? Couldn't he see that he was _dying_ to get out of the Village? Could he not see that his son's old best friend was in desperate need of a taste of violence and shinobi life?

Huffing dramatically, Kiba draped himself over Akamaru's back. The dog snorted at him, telling him he wasn't some horse, but still allowed the Inuzuka to ride on his back.

Akamaru's fur was soft; much softer than usual. But that was because he'd been forced into his fair share of preparations for Kiba's coming marriage, like more than his fair share of shots and horrible, blood curdling baths.

With his hands grasping on tightly to his dog's much too soft fur and his legs draped on either side of his body, Kiba thought about the malevolent evil overlord called Minato Namikaze.

The man had smelled guilty. And, for some reason, Kiba thought that the guilt had been directed at _him_. Which would only actually make sense if the man was in cahoots with his Elders... But, no. Even then, he wouldn't smell like _that_. No, Kiba had been out of action for so long that he'd lost sense of his nose. That was the only true answer that made sense. Because, really, there was no way his Elders could demand _the Hokage_ to keep him in the Village. They didn't have _that_ much pull.

"Kiba, please, get off of Akamaru. It's undignified." Shino muttered as they walked on, but Kiba merely dug his face deeper into his dog's back.

" _You're_ undignified."

"Mature, Kiba."

" _You're_ mature."

Shino breathed in then breathed out heavily. "What's wrong with you? You're being more childish than usual."

Their relationship was still rocky, but at least he now felt comfortable enough around them to act like he usually would when something upset him. Besides, it was easier knowing that they were stuck in the village for now just like him. Even though they'd gone on their fair share of missions, they were at least stuck in his misery for once!

He was going insane.

Inuzuka were not supposed to be trapped in the village for this long. He had not understood why his clan had the highest rate of missions accepted than any other before. Now he did, though. If Inuzuka shinobi were kept inside the village gates for too long, they would become literal menaces to society.

Even though he was feeling particularly restless, the Inuzuka only shrugged halfheartedly even though he didn't make sure Shino saw the action. Then he remained quiet, much too bothered with his life to try and strike up a pleasant conversation with people he felt totally alienated to by now.

From the smells that were hitting his nose, Kiba could tell that his friends were walking in the direction of their favorite training grounds. Most probably, they wanted to get some training in before they were given another mission. And Kiba kind of liked that idea, if not for the fact that he seriously thought he would never be able to see the outside of his Village anymore.

When they reached the training grounds, Kiba still refused to use his own legs to walk. Shino had stopped pestering him about it, though, so the Inuzuka had counted that as a victory in itself.

"Hey guys! What're you doing here? Wanting to get some training done too?"

Ino's voice was loud and Kiba hated her and why in the world did the harpy have to be here?!

Huffing at himself, Kiba tried to remember that it was not Ino's fault his life was shit. It was his stupid Clan's fault.

But then he remembered that Inoichi was Ino's dad and he'd played a pretty big part in _not_ letting him become a missing-nin- not really, but who was keeping track, anyway?- so Kiba decided that hating her too wasn't too far of a stretch.

"Y-yes. You too?" Hinata answered shakily, clearly unused to being Team 8's spokesperson.

Kiba felt kind of bad for having Hinata speak for them. Usually he was more than happy to take control of all conversations around him; he enjoyed speaking a lot. But right now, he just wanted to glower and sulk and hate. So that's what he'd do. That's what people did when they were having shit days, right? He deserved this. This day had been particularly shitty.

"Yeah… The woman's been annoying us for-" Kiba heard a rather harsh slap, then a startled hiss, and finally, "Geez, Ino! Why're you so odious?"

"Shut up, Shika! You're too lazy." Ino huffed and Ino could just imagine her crossing her arms and jutting her hip out with that stupid pout on her stupid face… Okay, no, he was going too far. He _really_ couldn't hate on this girl just because his life was crappy. "What's wrong with Dog Boy?"

"He has been feeling rather dramatic recently." Shino answered matter-of-factly, "Allow him to sulk. Eventually he will go back to his normal, boisterous ways."

Kiba wanted to grumble at him that there was now _no way_ he'd go back to being normal after he'd been so rude. But he kept his mouth shut, deciding that he was being a bit more sulky and childish than what was usual for him; a fact that might mean that Shino was closer to snapping on him. And when Shino snapped, nothing fun ever happened. As little as he wanted to be around his friend, he didn't want to push him over _that_ particular edge.

"Ah, then he and Shikamaru can sulk together. Come on, Chouji! Hey, Shino, Hinata, let's fight in teams. Shika and Kiba can treat whoever wins to food."

"That sounds like a good plan, Ino."

Kiba raised his head to try and glare at his friend. But his back was turned on him, so, even if he did muster up the energy to glare, Shino would completely miss it.

"Alright! Let's go!"

Ino and Chouji began to move then, and Shino and Hinata followed them to the center of the vast green space that was Training Ground 12.

Akamaru plodded towards the shade of a large tree, huffed loudly, and dropped Kiba onto his back. Kiba stayed there for a while, glaring up at the much too blue sky and much too beautifully chirping birds, until Shikaku's clone's face popped into his vision.

"What's up with you?"

Kiba frowned at Shikamaru, suddenly thinking about Shikaku.

He would, undoubtedly, be locked up inside of his office right now. He'd be either faking his reading of a document or lazily reading said document. And in a couple of minutes, he would be calling for some unfortunate courier to buy him his lunch so he wouldn't have to leave his office prematurely. Not because he wanted to work more, no. His couch was comfortable and the lazy bastard would undoubtedly be enjoying it as he waited for food. And probably afterwards too.

Was he actually jealous of Shikaku right now?

Well, at least the man had a routine to follow. Kiba's usual routine had been blown to bits. At least there was _something_ there to be jealous of.

"I'm protesting."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he looked him in the eyes, sticking his hands into his pockets as he did so, "What? Did you know Ino would force us to pay for whoever wins before you'd even gotten here?"

Kiba closed his eyes to stop and think about not being a jerk. Shikamaru was Shikaku's son, yes, but he most probably had no idea about the mess his father was currently in. It would be as unfair to hate on him as it would be to hate on Ino… Well, it'd be even more unfair. Because at least Shikamaru wasn't trying to make him pay for anything. He was just asking to see if he was fine. Yes, they'd had an awkward confrontation a couple of days ago when Shikamaru got back from his mission... But Kiba could just chalk that up to post-mission stress or anxiety or something.

"Everything. I'm protesting life."

"Good luck with that. I've been trying for years now."

"Gotten far?"

Shikamaru smirked, lowered himself so he was sitting by Kiba's feet with his back against the tree, and shrugged, "Not at all."

For a couple of seconds, Kiba stared at the Nara.

He looked completely comfortable... _Relaxed_ , even. Which was a very different look from what he'd been sporting the last time they had talked...

 _"Coming from T &I?"_

Just why had Shikamaru wanted to know that? And just why was he acting as if that conversation had never even happened?

* * *

"What am I supposed to do? Shikaku, you had to see his face! He looked as if he was near tears!"

With his pen scratching corrections onto the report he was currently reading over, Shikaku did his best to both ignore Lord Minato and concentrate on his work. But it was easier to concentrate on the man's extremely loud words than on the much more subtle written, so his endeavors were more difficult than what he would have liked.

"Ignore his Clan's orders and send him on a mission?" He offered, only to hear Minato whine.

Then there was a harsh thump he couldn't ignore, so Shikaku looked up from his work to find Minato laying on the couch with his face plastered against the cushions.

Normally, Shikaku would not be visited by the Hokage for social calls. One could argue that this wasn't a social call; Minato was in here because of his job and worries for one of the ninja under his care. But Shikaku wasn't really in a particularly good mood, so he wasn't at all prepared to deal with the bubbly and extremely annoying man.

"Do you not have other shinobi to stress over? The Inuzuka is inside of the Village; he's not in any danger."

Minato mumbled something unintelligible from the couch and suddenly Shikaku remembered Kiba in the same situation a couple of days ago when Shikaku asked him to fetch some papers from the closet he despised… Wow. He was surrounded by fools.

The blonde soon jumped when he figured out that his words weren't being heard clearly, making Shikaku's small moment of slight peace cut off abruptly. "I'm worried about him. Maybe he's not in danger outside, but there's something off about him."

Shikaku's halfhearted attempt at writing ceased as soon as he heard this. He kept his head down, hoping that Minato wouldn't notice his sudden freezing, and forced himself to seem relaxed and normal.

Had Kiba truly been acting so off that even the most oblivious man in Konoha had figured it out?

He knew the answer to that question so well that he shouldn't even have bothered making it.

"I can't put my finger on it, Nara… But Kiba's never turned down Kushina's cooking before. Especially on the night's Naruto comes back- that's when she goes all out with the meat." Minato continued talking more to himself than Shikaku, fortunately allowing the Nara enough time to regain his composure and continue working as if nothing had bothered him. "And it's weird, why would his clan have him on that list? Only ninja on probation or maternity or paternity leave are put on that- Oh my God, did Kiba get a girl pregnant?!"

Suddenly Minato was in Shikaku's face, grabbing his collar as if it was his lifeline.

Papers scattered all around him, suddenly sent to scatter every which way from the speed Minato had used.

Forcing himself to take a stabilizing breath, Shikaku closed his eyes and reminded himself that even though Minato was a fool, he was still Konoha's Hokage. No matter how annoyed the Nara became because of him, he could _not_ stab him with a sleeping needle just to get him to shut up.

"Lord Minato, have you heard of Kiba having a girlfriend?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Have you heard any whispers of him even being romantically involved with someone?"

"Well there was that one rumor a couple of months back about him and Shino, but-"

"Have you seen him even _looking_ at a single female that wasn't his friend or family?"

"… No…"

"Then do you truly think it is prudent to assume he's gotten a girl pregnant just because he's been acting strangely?" Shikaku sighed, prying Minato's hands off of his jacket. "He might be sick. There might have been a recent death in his Clan that affected him. He may have recently been told that he's going to be married off to some foreign saleswoman- Minato, it could be _anything_. Calm down."

That last one struck so close to him that he immediately regretted having said it.

Luckily for him, this was Minato and he didn't think _too much_ on a lot of things.

The blonde's fingers finally released his jacket and returned to their rightful owner. And Minato breathed out, frowning heavily.

"You're right, Shikaku… I'm sorry…I just…" Minato turned around and scratched at the back of his head, one hand on his hip, "I worry about him. He's like a second son to me."

"That's understandable, Lord Minato." Shikaku pushed himself back from his desk to begin to pick up the papers that had been sent flying by the Yellow Flash, shaking his head softly as he did so. "But you shouldn't really stress yourself over this. He is one chunin, you have thousands of others under your care."

"I know, I know!" Minato huffed in frustration, but Shikaku continued on the floor. "You've been hanging out recently with him, right? What can you tell me about what you've done? Has he been normal around you? Or has he been acting weirdly?"

Shikaku was truly caught off guard by the question.

He was grateful to have the desk in front of him covering up his body freezing up on him.

Quickly, he thought about the best, least harmful manner he could answer the questions. And, once he came up with a game plan, he finished grabbing up the papers that had been scattered and sat back down on his chair.

"He's been helping me deal with my paperwork; we've been getting it organized. To me he's seemed like a kid with too much time on his hands that needs to not do anything too stupid... In other words, a normal teenager that's been cooped up for too long. Aside from that, I've only known him for a couple of weeks. I can't compare that to anything."

Minato's eyes were narrowed in thought as he began to nod, "Okay… Well, that seems reasonable. You never really dealt with him before, so you wouldn't know what's normal and what's not…"

Shikaku nodded softly, setting his papers back down on his desk as Minato continued to think.

People were already catching on to him spending _a lot_ of time with Kiba. If even Minato had noticed this, then it was only a matter of time that the rumor mill began to feed itself with the less savory ideas... It was just a matter of time, really.

It seemed like the Fourth Hokage was prepared to say or ask something more. But the door into Shikaku's office suddenly slammed open and a clearly angered Kushina stomped inside.

Minato squeaked and hid behind Shikaku.

Shikaku merely regretted not having kicked the man out earlier. He always proved to be _never_ worth the trouble required to keep him alive.

"Minato! What are you doing in here? You've got a thousand different things to finish back at _your_ office!"

As she stomped over, the fiery woman prattled off all of the things that Minato needed to complete. And Shikaku quietly stood up, not prepared to give his life for his Hokage- at least, not in this situation. In any other, against any other opponent, the Nara would gladly lay his life down to ensure the safety of his Village's leader. But not against an angered Kushina. _Never_ against an angered Kushina.

"Shikaku! No! Please, Kushina, I'm sorry!"

Minato screamed as he was dragged away from Shikaku's office, sounding more like a man condemned to death than one that needed to return to his desk and responsibilities.

When it came to Kushina, Shikaku did not doubt that returning to work felt an awful lot like being forced to die.

* * *

Even though he had been forced to pay for food that would feed people that weren't _himself_ , Kiba didn't feel too bad about shelling out money for Shino and Hinata.

Ino was butt hurt over having lost to his teammates, but Chouji was happy to have been able to give Shino a run for his money before he'd been knocked out by a surprise attack from Hinata.

Shikamaru didn't really care about winners or losers, seeing how he was a complete loser. Ino insisted on going over to his house after they'd bought the food, seeing how it was the closest to the eatery they'd gone to, and she didn't want to sit around with other stinky people if there was a nice and clean home they could escape to for refuge.

It felt all kinds of _wrong_ to be inside of Shikaku's house- where his smell was overwhelming and demanding- without the man himself. _Especially_ considering how he'd never been here because he'd been invited by him. This was the man's _home_. It wasn't his office... It was _much_ more personal. And Kiba honestly felt like he was overstepping boundaries by even _daring_ to step a foot inside.

But Kiba couldn't really convince his friends to go anywhere else without seeming suspicious. So he'd just sulked the entire time he had been carried to Shikaku's home on Akamaru's back.

Quite frankly, Akamaru deserved the pricey steaks he'd bought him. Kiba had been nothing but a downer the whole day but his dog had put up with him without barely any reluctance. He was a fine trooper and Kiba did not regret losing most of his money feeding him.

"-yeah, Chouji almost died, but Shika and I were able to pull him back from the cliff in time. Then we kicked those jerks asses and completed the mission, so everything was alright." Ino finished with her grandiose retelling of Team 10's most recent mission with a shrug, "We got back on Sunday."

Chouji was too busy munching away at his large amount of food to say anything. But Shikamaru merely sighed, said, "The mission was troublesome," and finally asked them if they had gone on any missions themselves.

"Hinata and I have both been sent out on individual missions after that mission with you, Shikamaru." Shino answered monotonously, "Although I do not think Kiba has gone on any yet."

"T-that may be one of the reasons why h-he's in such a bad mood…" Hinata speculated softly, making Kiba frown.

"I've got tons more reasons to be in a bad mood." He growled over at her, but soon shrugged and lamely offered, "Hasn't been any need for me, apparently."

He knew this wasn't the reason. But it was the best reason he could come up with that would (hopefully) get his friends off his back.

It wasn't enough.

"Are you sure?" Chouji asked when he'd finished slurping down some of his noodles, "I heard that there're less Inuzuka in the Village now because of all the tracking missions that have suddenly entered."

Kiba blinked at this, honestly shocked at how well informed Chouji was, and floundered to reply, "What? S-Seriously?"

"You feeling alright, Kiba?" Ino looked at him with wide worried eyes, suddenly making Kiba feel like she was actually worried about him... Then, "I didn't know we had two Hinata's with us!" She giggled and Hinata's face reddened like a tomato while Chouji chuckled softly.

Shikamaru shook his head but didn't say anything. And Shino just kept quiet.

After that, Ino jumped onto another question and Kiba was left alone to be quiet. And, even though he should have liked not being hounded on, he suddenly felt _extremely_ alone, even though he was in a house he wasn't supposed to be in with five other people and his best friend.

He suddenly didn't feel all that hungry.

Lowering the food he hadn't eaten towards the bowl Shikamaru had kindly set out for Akamaru to eat from, the Inuzuka dropped more than half of what he had ordered for himself so his dog could eat it. He knew it wouldn't do him any good to not eat... _Again_. But he wasn't about to force himself to eat. Not right now. Not around these friends he suddenly saw as complete strangers.

He tried to tune into their conversation at one point, maybe to try and find a semblance of normality. But that proved to be a fruitless endeavor when his ears were filled with teenage stupidity he had never cared for.

"That's right." Ino nodded at Hinata, "I heard that Naruto supposedly has a crush on that certain someone I told you about!"

"W-w-w-what? R-really?!"

Kiba tuned out the subsequent trading of squeals between the kunoichi, opting to just rest his head on the wooden table in front of him.

Shikamaru, Shino, and Chouji traded words over him. He heard his name being mentioned a couple of times, and even felt a poke in his arm, but Kiba just ignored them. He knew he was being a downer… But he couldn't bring himself to being happy for the sake of his friends.

He was in a place he felt like an invader within with people he didn't find particularly pleasant... Why the hell had he thought being around his teammates would be a good idea today?

 _Right_ , he thought with chagrin. He'd thought that maybe, with their slowly progressing betterment, he thought he'd actually _enjoy_ being around his more fortunate friends.

Damn had he been wrong.

Once he'd finished eating the food given to him, Akamaru bit at his pant leg, telling him that if he wanted to lay down, he wouldn't stop him from doing just that. Kiba smiled down at his partner, patted his head, then told his friends he was going to sleep and if any of them bothered him, they would wind up with a kunai in an extremely important appendage. Which specific appendage had not been clarified, but mark Kiba's words, it would be an important one!

Shino shook his head softly, Hinata reddened in embarrassment at his actions, while Team 10 just blinked at him.

Shikamaru had seemed to be the only one not truly caught by surprise with his mood. He must have been so chill that he didn't feel the need to react.

Still, Kiba settled himself down below the dining room table where he couldn't be seen, his head nestled into Akamaru's stomach.

It was just when he finally was able to begin to drift off when the front door opened and heavy footsteps forced him away from any sort of sleep.

It wasn't difficult to figure out that the person that had recently entered must have been the only other Nara to now live in the house. But that deduction didn't really help him prepare for the harsh reality he would eventually meet with.

Kiba was supposed to be Shikaku's perfect husband in the near future.

A perfect husband did not enter their promised domain without permission.

Kiba was inside of Shikaku's home without even having asked for permission.

 _Shit_.

What would he say? What would he do? _Shit_ , what would the _Elders_ do?! They didn't give too many craps about propriety, but if there was one thing they had stressed, it had been respect for his new husband! And this certainly wasn't respecting him!

As each footfall became louder, Kiba's breathing became less easier to control.

When Shikaku's scent slammed into him like a hyperactive Akamaru, Kiba knew that there would be no avoiding any sort of confrontation.

Luckily enough for him, he didn't have to worry about his friends noticing his odd shift in emotions and the tension that took over his body as he thought about his plan to facing Shikaku with them around. Because he was under the table, he wasn't seen by anyone at all.

"Hey, dad."

"Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji." Shikaku must have nodded at all of the kids he mentioned, but he paused minutely as he noticed the unusual guests. "And Shino and Hinata… Not to be nosey, but isn't there usually an Inuzuka with you two?"

"Yes, Lord Nara." Shino most probably nodded stiffly, like he always did whenever he said anything.

"He's on the floor." Ino sounded awfully upbeat for having lost to his teammates, the teen noted with chagrin. Why did she even like being around Team 8 if she was such a bitch?! And why did Hinata like her? Women made absolutely no sense.

"What's he doing on the floor?" Shikaku sounded legitimately surprised by this, "Shikamaru, what did you do?"

"Why do you just assume I had something to do with it?" Shikamaru sighed out his exasperation with his father.

For a beat, Kiba wondered if he should say anything.

Then he decided that if he kept quiet, his friends would notice that something was more than just _off_. And keeping the charade was a bit more important than hoping the ground would swallow him up... Shikaku already knew he was there, anyway. It's not like he could run away and hope the man never found out he had come in without his permission.

Shikaku was a good enough guy... He wouldn't do anything _too_ extreme... Right?

"Shika may be borin', but he didn't kill me with it!" He clambered his way out from underneath the table and risked meeting Shikaku's dark eyes for a second before looking down at the floor.

Showing he wasn't defiant or looking for dominance would lessen the inevitable blow, hopefully. If he showed he understood his place, then Shikaku wouldn't be too pissed with him. At least, that's how things usually worked with his Clan. It wouldn't translate directly to Shikaku… But maybe he would get that this was a show of submission. He was smart enough to get that, Kiba was sure.

It was honestly weird to see the man and smell him all around. Even in his office, his scent wasn't so overbearing. But Kiba guessed that this was due to the fact that there was a constant rotation of people within the office- people were always running in, bothering him, and leaving, after all. In here, though, it was just him and Shikamaru. So it was only normal for the place to be flooded with their scents.

He wasn't supposed to be in here and he regretted everything.

An already bad day just somehow managed to get worse... Maybe life _totally_ despised him and wanted to make him suffer as much as possible before his inevitable end.

From the brief look he had managed to get of Shikaku's face, Kiba thought that it had looked thoughtfully soft. He could have sword there was also a slight flicker of amusement in his eyes, but he couldn't presume too much. he was in hot water and he needed to show he was sorry without flat out saying it so his friends wouldn't catch on to anything.

"I would hope." Shikaku's words were relaxed and his scent didn't take on an angered tone... Beside himself, Kiba relaxed. "A bored Inuzuka is a dangerous Inuzuka, son." The man turned his words onto his son, who rolled his eyes and waved him off, and then spoke up to all of the teenagers. "I'm not much of a host, but if you need anything, don't hesitate to tell Shikamaru."

"Funny, dad." Shikamaru remarked sarcastically, "Just go to sleep or something."

With a silent wave at them all, Shikaku made his way away from the dining room and Kiba's heart was allowed to stop racing.

 _Fuck_.

Kiba released a tense breath and allowed himself to relax even further.

Alright... For now, he was safe. Shikaku had seemed totally fine... But that may have just been because his friends were around and he couldn't flat out single him out in this environment.

Sometimes, Kiba wondered if there was a way to shut his thoughts up. Because, often times, they didn't help him. Like, _at all._

"Geez, Shikamaru, your dad's so chill. My dad would have started talking about cooking up dinner for Team 8." Chouji remarked softly, which made Shikamaru shrug.

"He's a Nara."

 _He's a Nara_ ,Kiba agreed. Maybe he was so chill that he didn't mind Kiba invading his home without his permission... He couldn't leave it unspoken, though. Eventually, he'd need to talk to Shikaku. Not knowing if he was okay with this or not may just be the death of him.

* * *

Shikaku had not expected to find so many teenagers within his home. But he didn't mind it too much; it meant that Shikamaru was getting back into the swing of life after his mother's death.

Finding Kiba resting on the floor beneath his dining room table had been both amusing and unsurprising. All Inuzuka were prone to doing things that weren't considered too normal. So, knowing how Kiba was as much an Inuzuka as all others he had ever met, it was not shocking to see him doing such an odd thing. The only thing that had actually bothered him had been Kiba's reaction _after_ he'd gotten up from the floor... So long together, and he still averted his eyes like a scared child.

He'd have to talk to Kiba about that eventually, he knew. He just had no idea how he was supposed to start a conversation like that.

Shikamaru and his friends stayed in the house for a while. As they hung out and talked, Shikaku had entertained himself by catching up on much needed sleep. But when he'd woken up, it was to find that, even though both Chouji and Ino had left to return home, Team 8 was still talking with Shikamaru.

The four teenagers and dog were within his spacious family room, three of them taking up the whole space of Yoshino's favorite couch, while one had deemed a corner of the room the perfect place to loiter.

To say Shikamaru was talking to Team 8 was a stretch, though. _Shino and Hinata_ were talking to his son. Kiba was the figure that hung back in the corner.

Immediately, Shikaku knew that something was wrong with the teenager. But he couldn't really speak to Kiba without calling attention to himself. So he couldn't walk up to him to ask what was wrong _this time_.

There was always something wrong with the boy now... It really wasn't fair.

Most probably, Kiba didn't want his friends to see him talking to him. The teenager would undoubtedly feel humiliated over having to marry someone twice his age and had no idea how he was even supposed to bring the topic up to his team.

None of this was easy... Not when put into a personal perspective _outside_ of Clan relations.

With a sigh, Shikaku made sure to make his presence in the kitchen known. If not to let Kiba know that he was awake and available, then to let Shikamaru and the rest know that he was up.

As he served himself a glass of water, Kiba walked into his kitchen with his head facing the floor.

Silence reigned over them for a couple of seconds. Then Kiba breathed out heavily and spoke up.

"They're talking about me as if I weren't in the room."

Quirking a questioning eyebrow up, he patiently waited for Kiba to explain himself.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Kiba walked over to Shikaku, leaned up against the wall nearest to him, and looked him in the eyes, "They're comparing notes over what's up with me to try and figure out what could be wrong… I think they're tryinna get a reaction from me or somethin'."

Hearing this stunned Shikaku- he'd never thought Shikamaru would be the kind to use such a devious method to get a friend to open up.

Still, he couldn't blame the teenagers.

"Minato asked me if I know what's going on with you, Kiba."

"What?" Kiba's eyes widened as soon as he heard this, "Seriously?"

"Mm-hmm." Shikaku nodded as he hummed softly, then scratched at the back of his neck, "Kid, I think you're worrying more than a couple of people with how you've been acting."

Snorting, Kiba looked down at the floor, "Well, how am I supposed to act? As if everything's fine? You know it isn't."

"I'm more than aware." The man sighed, feeling extremely bad over what the kid was going through.

He'd been forced to marry when he was a teenager as well. He knew how hard it could be to go through with an arranged marriage. But he didn't have to marry into another clan, nor was he forced to lose any standing within his own clan.

Kiba's situation sounded much more oppressing than the one Shikaku had been in.

"Uh... Hey, listen-"

"Kid, you-"

Both males blinked at each other after they'd began to speak at the same time, then Shikaku motioned to Kiba with his and a small smile barely on his lips. "Why don't you go first?"

Kiba blinked uncomfortably for a second longer, then averted his gaze once again and murmured out, "I... Uh... I wanted to apologize..." Kiba lowered his voice enough to make sure he wasn't overheard by those outside and Shikaku was left confused. "For being here, I mean. I know this is your home and I shouldn't be in here without your permission and shit, but they came here... And... Yeah... Sorry."

Shikaku was at a complete loss for words as Kiba continued to look down at his feet rather than at him.

 _Averted gaze, tensed shoulders, and looking extremely apologetic._ Shikaku had seen this look before and he still couldn't wrap his head around it.

"You don't have to apologize for that. You are my son's guest."

Kiba's head remained turned down after Shikaku had spoken up, as if he didn't believe him.

With a sigh, Shikaku walked towards the kid and put his hands on his shoulders. Kiba looked up at him quickly, surprised by the soft touch, and Shikaku smiled down at him. "I'm not lying, kid. You don't have to apologize when you haven't done anything wrong."

For a couple of seconds, he allowed his thumbs to rub soothing circles on Kiba's shoulder as the kid continued to look up at him with disbelieving eyes.

"A-Alright..." He eventually let out and Shikaku patted his shoulders before stepping away.

He went to drink from his glass of water. And once he set it down, he heard Kiba speak up. "Hey... What were you going to say? Before I interrupted you?"

Shikaku thought on this for a moment, then remembered. "I know things aren't easy. And I don't want to be another person that tells you that you need to suck it up; you've got enough of those. Remember, I'm on your side."

Kiba blinked at him in flat out confusion.

And Shikaku felt the need to understand why this kid acted to strangely around him increase.

..~..~..

I know it's been a while, but I finally managed to update! Well, what did y'all think? Leave a review and tell me so.

(Also, I know the friends are kind of jerks. But have you ever been around teenagers when you're having some serious internal struggles that you keep to yourself? They can be _dicks_!)


	15. Chapter 15

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult. And some more angst. Friends are kind of extreme jerks, really, and they don't even notice it. Did I, by any chance, say angst already?

~..~..~

"The date has been set."

Kiba faltered for a second as he stirred the rice he had been forced to make by his sister. It was a hesitation of only a fraction of a second and he immediately forced himself to move as if he had never hesitated... But he could tell that his sister had noticed it from the distrusting frown that now marred her face.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." He muttered, placed the lid back on the pot so the rice could finish cooking, and finally turned to his sister. "What are you talking about? What date?"

He was a jumpy individual now. And it was all his Clan's fault. Hana had undoubtedly figured out that he had recently been even more jumpy than usual, but it wasn't as if she would do anything about it. She was the golden child that was safe from everything; why in the world would she worry herself with the defective little brother that was now to be married to the Head of the Nara Clan?

Hana stared at him for a handful of seconds, looking him directly in the eyes to try and find some kind of _something_. Kiba crossed his arms over his chest as she did this, looking away from her face to instead focus on the counter he was leaning against, a couple of inches away from the lit up stove top.

After she scoffed in frustration, Hana answered, "The night when you're supposed to finally go on your first official date with Shikaku Nara. Rumors have finally started to surface and the Elders think that in two weeks, the state in the Village will be perfect for your first date."

Kiba couldn't help but frown at this bit of information.

"Two weeks?" He questioned, then prodded, "What do you mean first date? We've gone out a bunch of times already."

"You've gone out together as friends... There's been nothing romantic about it." Hana moved over to the refrigerator as Kiba's frown deepened. She opened the door and pulled out a jug of juice, "You're supposed to kiss Shikaku on this date."

Kiba's heart stopped.

" _What_?"

"You heard me, little brother." She rolled her eyes as she grabbed a cup to serve herself, "Do you have lint in your ears? You're going to kiss Shikaku Nara on this date. That way whoever sees you can confirm the rumors that'll be running around by that time. It's a perfect setup. All you have to do is not mess up the kiss and you should be fine."

Kiba blinked at his sister, absolutely stunned with how easily she was taking the whole situation. He had always known his sister was the least emotionally compromised of the three people the made up his nuclear family... But he had no idea that she could detach herself from her emotions _so well_ that she could talk about Kiba kissing Shikamaru's father as easily as if she was talking about the weather.

"That... That's too soon..." Kiba breathed out, eyes wide as he began to think about everything that would happen once he and Shikaku were 'officially' dating.

What would his friends say? What would they _do_? Would they insult him for dating _Shikamaru's father_? Would they ignore him? Or, worst yet... Would they completely leave him? Would they leave him along just because he was dating one of their father's?

 _Oh no..._ What would _Shikamaru_ think?

His heart began to pump so harshly that it began to hurt his ears. His chest tightened. Breathing became harder.

 _Shit_.

 _Fuck._

 _Fucking shit._

 _Holy fucking sh-_

A sudden poke to the middle of his forehead wrenched Kiba away from his thoughts and into his current reality. He blinked in slight confusion as his eyesight focused on Hana again; taking note of the way she was frowning in worry.

Look at that... Kiba _almost_ believed that she actually cared about his well being.

"Calm down, Kiba. You don't have to freak out." She sighed, cocked her head to the side slightly, and offered a small smile that barely curled the corners of her lips. "It's just a little kiss. You'll be fine... I mean, you _have_ kissed people before, right?"

"That's _not_ what I'm freaking about, sis."

"Sure." She rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her juice before smirking, "I hear Nara are good kissers. You should tell me if Shikaku's any good once you're done."

With that final statement, Hana saluted a goodbye at him and strolled out of the kitchen.

All Kiba could really do after that was blink at her; much too stunned to even yell after her to ask her why the hell she thought that would be a good thing to say when he was clearly freaking out over something else.

* * *

Shikaku had just recently finished up a lunch outing with his best friends.

It had been just what he needed to relax, if only a little bit.

Honestly, with everything that had been happening, he had forgotten just how wound up he could get without noticing it. Chouza and Inoichi were always the ones to make him relax when that happened but they had been apart for so long now that they hadn't been given the chance to point out just how truly stressed he was.

No matter, he was relaxed now. He didn't even mind having to take a long walk to return to his office simply because his great friends had chosen to eat on, basically, the other side of the Village.

Hmm... Maybe instead of going back into the office, he should just head on back to his home and take a well deserved nap. Chouza was right; he had been working so much recently that there wasn't his usual mess of papers around the office. If he had been working so much in the past few weeks, he could give himself an afternoon off.

Besides, most of the worrying missions and problems were being dealt with at the moment or had already been put under control. At the moment, there was nothing too pressing that required his attention. So he could, in essence, take a much deserved break and not catch any gruff from anyone about it.

The more he brooded on the matter, the more clear his course of action became.

So, by the time he reached the cross roads that would lead him back to his office or allowed him a less straightforward path to his own home, he didn't even feel the need to hesitate. He turned right instead of continuing to go down straight and began to make his way home.

He deserved a break.

It was about time he allowed himself an afternoon free.

With a small smile on his scarred lips, Shikaku Nara made his way home to enjoy an afternoon of finally doing what he loved to do the most: absolutely nothing.

* * *

Kiba couldn't stop thinking about what Hana had said. Because of this, he was also not able to stop himself from thinking about the only time Shikaku and he had willingly exchanged any kind of touch- those few weeks ago when Shikaku had softly put his arm over his shoulders and pulled him near to his body.

In all honesty, Kiba had _not_ hated Shikaku touching him. This truly surprised him, seeing how he had been completely prepared to find himself repulsed at the very idea of Shikaku touching any part of him. But, when he had found Shikaku's arm around him, he hadn't felt _bad_... For some reason, he had just felt _okay_.

He hadn't felt amazing. But he hadn't felt as if he were in danger nor had he been disgusted. It had just felt as if it was normal for Shikaku to have his arm around him.

Kiba was pretty sure that this just meant that he had truly begun to see Shikaku as someone he could trust... Even though he was still terrified of saying the wrong things around him.

But an arm over shoulders was one thing... A hug was something simple... Most kinds of physical touches were nonsensical and could be played off as too much friendliness... But a _kiss_? _On the lips_? That was just a step Kiba wasn't prepared to make.

Sighing heavily, Kiba threw himself onto his bed. He regretted this, though, as soon as a book's spine jammed into his side, making him hiss in discomfort immediately.

"Stupid little..." He continued grumbling nonsensical insults as he dug the book out from beneath him, then brought it near his face to look it over.

Now that he could see it, he could see that it wasn't actually a book. It was a notebook he had used all those weeks ago when he had been scouring through books offered to him by Kotetsu for different kinds of jutsu to try out.

… He had kind of forgotten about his promise of midnight practices to get stronger, now that he thought about it...

Opening the notebook up, Kiba noticed that one of his greatest ideas was one he had never even tried with Akamaru.

Sucking at his bottom lip, Kiba decided that thinking about having to kiss Shikaku wasn't the way he wanted to spend the rest of his day. So he called on Akamaru and told him that they would be going for some training before he shouted at his mom that he would be back before midnight.

Practicing jutsu and draining his body of energy was something he knew and knew how to do well. He could leave stressing out over Shikaku and kisses later.

* * *

"Shikaku! What a treat!"

Shikaku had noticed him too late to turn around and avoid crossing paths with him. Now he wished he had taken a different route home... He did _not_ , though, regret having decided to skip out on his office.

"Lord Minato, always a pleasure." He nodded softly towards the blonde, who sent him a completely beaming smile.

"We've been seeing a lot of each other recently, haven't we?" Minato asked, then blinked before snapping his fingers. "Hey, did you ever get around to finding out that information? You know, the one you couldn't find from my library?"

Not at all. He was just as in the dark about the Inuzuka Clan now as he had been when he'd looked up information in the Hokage's personal library.

Shikaku sighed softly and shrugged, "Not really, no... But it's nothing too pressing, so I'm not too bothered."

Oh, he was extremely bothered. But he couldn't just tell this to the Hokage. Because if he let him know _anything_ about what he was looking up, he would undoubtedly find himself under a barrage of questions he didn't want to waste time contemplating lies for.

"I'm sorry to hear that..." Minato mumbled softly, then perked up, "Hey, Naruto was going to invite his team over for dinner tonight. Why don't you and Shikamaru come by too? You know how much Kushina loves to cook for others."

Shikaku stared at the man for a moment, gauging his features.

Minato's smile was tense and his eyes were pleading.

"How did you disappoint her this time?" Shikaku sighed, making Minato groan dramatically and throw his head into his arms.

"I gave away the surprise party we were planning for Naruto's birthday! Come on, Shika, please come tonight! I need a buffer from Kushina's evil stares and she loves you!"

Shikaku shook his head softly- only this couple would ever have these sorts of problems...

"Alright. I'll see if Shikamaru would like to come too. Around when should we come around?"

In the end, Minato was his Hokage. And a free meal was a free meal.

"Six! Would you by any chance have some deer meat you could bring as an offering? Kushina loves cooking with it."

An offering to Kushina… This man treated his wife as if she were a snarling beast rather than just an easily inflamed woman.

"I'll see what I can do."

"You're the best, Shikaku!"

With a wave a small wave, Shikaku continued on his way.

So, his quiet afternoon wouldn't be as quiet as he had expected... But at least he would be able to eat a free meal. And, seeing how this would be in the Hokage's home, it would undoubtedly be a dinner with a show... Besides, he would be able to spend some time with the son he barely ever saw, too, if he decided to come along too.

* * *

"Now, Akamaru!"

His human's shouting had become hoarse and breathless- punctuated by harsh intakes of breath and hurried exhales of them. Akamaru couldn't blame him, though, for he was having his own trouble keeping composure of his breathing. Sweat poured down the human's body and would have drenched his shirt if not for the fact that he had taken it off about an hour ago, when their training had begun to intensify. Akamaru was sure that if he too could sweat, he would be just as drenched.

They had been at this for what had felt like forever. But their labor finally seemed to be bearing fruits.

The large dog gulped in a large breath and forced his shaking legs to stabilize momentarily. He was just as tired- if not _even more_ tired- as Kiba. But he would plow through his physical exhaustion; he would force the ache in his body to the back of his mind so he could go through this combo just _one_ more time.

They had both known today would not be easy. It had been clear to them as soon as they had decided on the _exact_ combination attack they wished to perfect. But, just as they had known the day would have been difficult, they had known that they would have been able to at least succeed one try. So they had not- and _would not_ – give up until they managed to do the combo right. Weeks of planning and scouring through various texts had led them up to this moment- they weren't about to just give up because they were tired.

Forcing a burst of energy into his legs that he knew he was lucky to find within himself, Akamaru charged forward and towards the practice target they had been aiming for the whole night; had not been able to hit properly even after hours of practicing.

Eventually, once they had managed to truly perfect this technique, Akamaru would look as if he were Kiba. But the transformation jutstu would be integrated later, once they were certain that this combination was actually worth all of the time perfecting it would require.

The point of this attack was to confuse the opponent and get them to pay attention to Akamaru, all the while Kiba came from beneath and ferociously attacked them. Kiba had managed to come up with the idea after he'd scoured through those books he now happened to love so much. If Akamaru was correct, Kotetsu had played his own hand in molding the technique into something the Inuzuka partners could use in battle.

With a guttural growl, the large dog propelled himself towards the target with what might he was able to muster.

He had lost count of how many times they had repeated this after the first fifteen.

Kiba was nowhere in sight now. A flash of panic crossed across the dog's mind.

Kiba had gotten better at keeping control of his chakra while underground. But Akamaru still had the memory of almost losing his partner on that first night of nightly practice horrifyingly clear in his mind. He did not think it was a good idea for the hardheaded human to continue forcing his way underground when he was already so tired. Kiba was good, yes, but he was known at this point for being a fool that didn't know when to stop- even Akamaru couldn't try and ignore this flaw of his partner.

Still, he went through with his part of the combo. He knew that if he didn't, he would receive an earful from his partner.

In the back of his mind, the dog reminded himself that, if worse came to worse, he would always be able to find a hidden pot of strength that would help him get his partner out of whatever danger he'd landed in. He didn't like this because he'd saved the human enough times to think that Kiba would have by now understood his own limits... But he was at least proud that he had never let his partner down in all their years together.

Propelling himself into Passing Fang, Akamaru aimed for the side of the target.

Just as he passed by the target's side, he smelled Kiba's scent appear.

Succumbing to his exhaustion, the dog fell out of the jutsu and landed on the floor. He didn't immediately fall onto the floor, like he had wished for a passing second. Instead, he forced his shaking legs to remain steady so he could see his partner's half of the attack.

He turned around just in time to see Kiba deliver a powerful, rock covered punch, to the training puppet.

The figurine flew backwards, away from them and Kiba was left panting in front of where it had once been, sweat coursing down his exposed front as his chest heaved.

Neither said anything at first.

The silence around them was thick.

Then a small, incredibly tired yet unbelievably pleased smile melted onto Kiba's face and Akamaru breathed out a heavy huff of relief.

"I did it, boy! I finally did it!"

The combination was a simple one, on Akamaru's end. But Kiba had insisted on something flashy and effective- hence the reason behind the thick covering of earth around the fist he'd use to deliver the final blow.

Every time they had gone through this process, Kiba had fallen short on _that_ end. The ground he clumped around his fist would always dissolve before it could be used. Or it simply never took shape, even while underground. And every single time he had failed, he had insisted that they needed to get it right to make sure there were actual combat possibilities with the combo. It had been a good idea on paper, Kotetsu had said, but he wasn't sure just how effective it would have been in battle.

When Kiba had told him that they would be doing this all afternoon, Akamaru had whined softly and whole heartedly cursed his human's sister. He loved Hana just as the rest of the Inuzuka dogs did. But he had a small bit of resentment for her nestled deep in his heart after she had been the one to begin to prepare him for Kiba's marriage... So many horrible baths... So many shots... And the fact that she had been the one to inform Kiba of the Elders' plans early that morning had certainly not helped his opinions of her.

Hana was just doing her job, Akamaru knew. But that didn't mean he had to like it or separate her from what she did.

Slowly, with subtly shaking legs, he padded towards his partner. Once near, Akamaru licked his hand and nodded softly.

They had finally done it right.

* * *

Shikaku and Shikamaru found themselves standing at the Hokage's front door for a couple of minutes as they waited for someone to finally open up for them.

In that time, Shikaku heard his son sigh heavily at least four times.

Shikaku knew that his son only ever did this when he was extremely bored. So he decided to try and ease some of that boredom, "Well, Shikamaru… Anything interesting happened to you recently?"

It had been a while since they had last been able to speak. Shikaku was made painfully aware of this when he tried to think of anything exciting that his son had told him about... Only to come up with absolutely nothing.

He really needed to step up his game and spend more time with his only son.

"Just the surplus of missions, dad..." Shikamaru answered in a sigh, then shrugged, "What about you?" He pursed his lips for a moment and narrowed his eyes, a look that let Shikaku know that he was thinking heavily on what he would say next. "Kiba's been around you a lot recently, huh?"

This question was one Shikaku should have seen coming. He was still completely blind sided by it, somehow.

"Yeah... He's been helping out at the office- organizing and filing." Shikaku answered almost instinctively, only to find Shikamaru's narrowed eyebrows somehow becoming even more narrowed.

He wanted to ask his son just why he was asking. But just at that moment the door opened up and both Nara found a smiling Kushina standing before them.

"Shikaku! Shikamaru! Isn't it a treat to see you both!"

"Thank you for having us." Shikaku inclined his head slightly, then offered the package of deer meat he had been able to grab from one of their butchers. "I hope it's the cut you like."

She didn't even look inside. Instead Kushina swiped the meat with an almost mad glint in her eyes before pulling him in for a hug. "It's perfect!" Once she had pulled away, she motioned for them to come in. "Naruto is still out, Shikamaru, but Sakura and Sasuke are already in the living room. You can go talk with them if you'd like."

His son nodded and walked away with his hands firmly stuffed in his pockets, leaving Shikaku alone to face the bubbly hurricane that was Kushina.

* * *

He and Akamaru wound up passed out for a while.

So long, actually, that they didn't wake up normally. No, they were woken up. And, once again, Kiba was forced to wake up in a horrible way.

"Hey, Dog Breath! What're you doing out here?"

Rude awakenings, it seemed, would continue being his regular way to wake up.

With a growl and a sneer at whoever dared speak so loudly and jar his pounding head, the Inuzuka teen forced his body to sit up so he could properly glare.

His body was aching, in more than just a bearable amount of pain, and there was no way he'd be able to force himself to train with his team tomorrow. But none of that mattered right now. Not when he needed to teach someone a lesson on proper manners to wake someone else u-

"You okay?"

Bright blue eyes suddenly filled his vision, halting his annoyed and angered thoughts in their tracks.

Brown eyes blinked in stupefaction at the sight. Wide and much too worried blue eyes stared back without blinking a single time.

These eyes… Kiba knew these eyes… Just like he knew the scent that forced its way into his nose… But his mind was so fogged by sleep and exhaustion that it refused to connect any pieces.

"Kiba, you're really starting to worry me man." Now a hand forced itself in between their eyes, immediately making Kiba's eyes focus on it and look as it snapped its long, strong, fingers. "Tell me something or I'm dragging you over to Sakura so she can look you over."

The name of the (not like he'd ever admit it out loud) terrifying kunoichi had Kiba snapping out of his confused daze.

With a burst energy he had not known he still held within him, Kiba jumped up from the floor and glared down at the worried blonde.

"I'm going to _no_ psychopath!"

"Oh, well at least your body's working al- whoah!"

Kiba's body suddenly surged forward, out of his control. His feet collapsed from underneath him, sending his body tumbling towards the ground. And his arms, as heavy as lead, refused to lift to even try and cushion his fall.

It seemed that chakra exhaustion truly was something he should have watched out for.

… Maybe he should have taken Kurenai-Sensei's warnings seriously…

There wasn't much for him to do. His body was refusing to cooperate so he knew that there would be no way for him to be able to stop himself from crashing down. Even though his mind was more than aware that he would have been able to accomplish the rather easy feat if not for his insistence on training hard… Well, the body didn't always go along with what the mind screamed at it, now did it?

Seriously, there was nothing left for him to do but close his eyes, enjoy the fall, and hope that gravity wouldn't cause the impact to be too hard.

Kiba had been prepared to hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.

He did not meet this end.

Instead of the ground hitting him, he felt something solid, yet soft. And, oddly enough, he felt another some-things wrap around his back… kind of like a hug- Oh!

The jerk that had woken him up in the worst way possible had broken his fall!

"That's it; I'm taking you to Sakura!"

"No! You can't! You traitor!"

Even though he wished to have growled that out, Kiba had to admit that the intimidation that could have been felt because of his voice must have been rather low. His voice came out muffled, seeing how his face was currently smushed against the soft yet solid surface he had fallen onto.

He wanted to struggle. But his body refused to move.

The fact that he must have looked unbelievably pathetic did not fly over his head… And he hated that.

A fall wasn't all that scary. He was accustomed to falling and having to get himself back up, no matter how many scrapes he acquired. This was not a reality he was unaccustomed to.

Sakura Haruno, though, was terrifying.

She was a dragon when it came to the health of her friends. And, unfortunately, Kiba somehow found himself within that very category in her mind. This meant that if she found out about how he had foolishly drained _all_ of his chakra, then there would be hell he would undoubtedly have to pay.

He didn't want to pay. Not right now. Not to Sakura, especially.

Hinata and Kurenai-Sensei were one thing. They were something he was accustomed to dealing with. He knew how to soften their glares and make them not judge him too bad. Sakura Haruno, though? She was on a whole different scale. And he was not eager to face that scale.

"Well I've got to get you some help…"

The jerk didn't move, though. And this let Kiba know that he would be safe from the insane harpy's clutches for the moment.

He took the time the jerk spent thinking to smell him.

He couldn't really see much, with his face rested _right on top_ of the guy's chest. But now that the shock of waking up was gone and his body had no other thing to focus on, seeing how it was… well… _indisposed_ ; Kiba was able to catch a good whiff of the scent this guy had wafting off of him.

It didn't take him even a second to match the scent to a face. And he kind of wanted to smack himself for not having connected the scent any sooner.

What he couldn't understand, though, after making the match, was what in the world was Naruto doing here of all the places in the Village?

"Sakura can be pretty scary…" Kiba heard Naruto concede after a couple of seconds passed in silence. "But I can't leave you out here…"

"I'll be fine! Akamaru's-"

"Passed out on the ground."

"What?!"

Kiba tried to move to find his dog. But his body refused to budge. And he had never felt so betrayed by his own body before.

"Calm down! He's breathing!" Naruto's arms tightened around his waist, as if terrified Kiba would continue on his past trip to meet the ground if he didn't take the proper precautions. "He just looks like he's really tired… You too, Kiba. Have you been sleeping well?"

 _Of course not_.

"I'm fine."

Lying to his friends was becoming much too normal. He almost didn't feel a single bit of guilt this time around.

Maybe… Just maybe… If he insisted to everyone around him that everything was fine; that the world wasn't breaking apart all around him; then maybe he would be able to convince himself of the very thing.

He sounded like such a fucking teenage cliché…

There was a beat of silence. Then Kiba found himself being hauled over Naruto's shoulder with much more care than he had thought the idiot could ever posses. Admittedly, it wasn't with much grace and he felt a bit of his breath forced out of his lungs as soon as his stomach met with the blonde oaf's shoulder. But it was much less harsh than he would have expected from Naruto.

"Okay. Alright. You're coming with me, though. I'm getting you to my house and mom's gonna make a huge meal that you're going to love and you're going to rest up."

"But-"

With a soft bounce, Naruto manage to shut Kiba up. The Inuzuka wheezed a bit when Naruto's shoulder dug even further into his stomach, but, aside from that, was left mostly unharmed.

"No buts. Now come on. Akamaru will catch up once he wakes up."

Any other day, Kiba would have fought the bubbly blonde off. But he was so extremely tired and Naruto was so unbelievably _strong_ … Fighting would just wind up with the blonde insisting that they would be going to his house no matter what and Kiba even more tired than before.

… Well, as long as he wasn't threatening with taking him to Sakura anymore, Kiba could safely say he was alright. As long as no crazy, dragon-like Sakuras were threatened to be sicced on him, then he certainly did not mind having someone offer to take care of his exhausted body and give him a free meal.

* * *

"Mom! Dad! Kiba kind of passed so I brought him here for food and rest, alright? Oh, hey Sakura! Hey Sasuke! Shikamaru? What're you doing here?"

Minato's eyes widened almost comically as soon as he heard the first sentence. Then he was out of his chair and out of the dining room they had been occupying, running in the direction of the front door, all before Naruto had even finished acknowledging Shikamaru's presence.

Shikaku sighed softly and shook his head.

What in the world had Kiba gotten himself into this time around?

It would only be prudent for him to show some ounce of care… As a guest in the Namikaze home with knowledge as to who Kiba was, it would only be right for him to check up on the kid. Especially seeing how his son and the Namikaze couple both knew of his recently budding work related relationship with the teenager.

Besides, if he was being honest with himself, he was somewhat worried over the Inuzuka's well being. Just what did him having 'passed out' mean? Was it a common occurrence for the Namikaze family? … No, that couldn't have been it… Not if Minato's reaction was any indicator. He was clearly worried- a reaction that wouldn't really be warranted if he was accustomed to finding out about passed out teenagers being brought into his home. Although, this _was_ Minato, a man more predisposed to overreaction than most people Shikaku had ever met in his life.

With questions as to what had happened running through his mind, Shikaku made his way over to the front of the house. There he found Minato fluttering around Naruto, asking all sorts of questions without actually stopping to allow him to answer anything.

Hanging onto the teenager was Kiba. One arm was slung around his friend's shoulders, but his whole body sagged with clear exhaustion.

Sakura, on Kiba's other side, seemed to be taking his pulse. Her face was pulled into the kind of look Shikaku had come to expect from the medical ninja he had worked with. And, off to the side, Sasuke and Shikamaru were both standing with their arms crossed over their chests with an indifference that was so forced the Nara patriarch wasn't completely sure why they even tried.

"G'way…" He heard the Inuzuka mumble hoarsely, sounding just as tired as he looked.

Shikaku was not sure if he should have felt something like slight exasperation at the clear hint of annoyance in the teen's voice or if it was more suitable to not really be all that interested in what had happened. Still, he knew that all he could think about was how Kiba had told him that he had not been following his training schedule as strictly as before... And they were nowhere near midnight.

What in the world had the kid been doing to wind up like this?

"Dad, you're smothering us!" Naruto whined out as the man continued to hover over them even as Sakura began to look over Kiba's face.

"Just what in the world did you to do that wound up with Kiba like this? He doesn't have any chakra!"

Maybe Minato had _not_ been exaggerating when he'd said that he considered Kiba as a second son... That would explain just how troubled he looked upon seeing Kiba like this.

"… Exagemaration…"

Yup. The Inuzuka was suffering from the effects of chakra exhaustion. There was no doubt about it.

Breathing in, Shikaku cleared his throat to call attention to himself.

Both blondes froze as soon as they heard him and looked up at him with surprise clear on their faces. Surprise which didn't really astonish the Nara from Naruto, seeing how the kid had most probably not known he and Shikamaru would be joining them for dinner. But, really, there was no reason for Minato to look like this. He was such a dramatic individual at times…

"I'm sure that Kiba just needs to rest and get some food. He doesn't seem injured. There really seems to be nothing wrong with him other than the exhaustion."

"You're right."

"What're you doing here?"

Sakura looked as if she was completely sure of Shikaku's comment. She didn't continue fussing over the Inuzuka and instead directed Naruto to get him into the kitchen so he could eat something and drink some water. Just as Minato and Naruto began to move him, Kushina called out that the food was prepared.

Shikaku turned around and began to make his way towards the dining room without bothering to wait for either of the people that had been in the room with him. They would eventually make their way towards the dangerous Uzumaki. If they didn't, it was a very well known fact that Kushina would not react all too kindly.

~/~

He had been correct to assume that dinner at the Namikaze family would have been chaotic. Unfortunately, Kiba's role in the chaos had been minimal, so he could not be blamed for much of what had happened. Nor were Shikamaru, Sakura, or Sasuke part of the insanity that was unleashed. This meant that almost all of the craziness the Namikaze family unleashed was its own creation.

Shikaku weathered the insanity with patience, though, mostly accustomed to the Namikaze's odd ways because of how closely he wound up having to work with Minato on a daily basis... Something that had seemed to begin to happen more often recently.

"No, please! I swear I finished that!"

Calmly sipping at his drink of water, Shikaku shook his head, "No, you haven't. Why do you think Inoichi is forced to come into my office every morning to check and see if there have been any new developments?"

Kushina growled before she began to rant and scold at her husband, all the while the blonde cowered and whimpered.

If Shikaku received even the slightest amount of amusement at seeing his Hokage in such a situation, he would never say it out loud.

Somewhere among all of the woman's shouting, Shikaku could also hear Naruto. He wasn't sure just why the teenager was forcing himself into the conversation, nor just what he thought he could add. But it only proved how truly _unique_ this family was.

Sasuke was much like Shikamaru in the fact that both males were ignoring the screaming that came from the family. Both teens were eating their food peacefully, Shikamaru ignoring the screams in a way only a Nara could manage and Sasuke in a way that spoke much of how often he had endured such scenes. Sakura, though, was taking small bites of her food and looked as if she was wholly uncomfortable and prepared to leave as soon as she found an opening.

Kiba, seated in between Sakura and Naruto, had mostly finished his plate and was currently resting his head against the back of the chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

Some of his color had returned. And he didn't look as exhausted as he had when Naruto had first brought him in- the droopiness of his eyes had gone down and Shikaky had seen him focusing on the people around him a couple of times during the dinner. So the Nara could assume that the food had helped in making him recover slightly from what had ailed him. But he still looked as if he wouldn't be able to walk anywhere any time soon.

Suddenly, the kid's eyes opened and focused on him as Kushina and Naruto continued to hound on Minato. The three were by the edge of the table, clumped together, which allowed Kiba and Shikaku to look at each other without having to worry about getting caught. The other three dinner guests were on their other side.

Quietly, the Nara quirked an eyebrow to silently ask him if he was alright.

Kiba scoffed softly and rolled his eyes, but still nodded.

It was hard to suppress the slightly amused smirk that made its way onto his lips.

This kid was another thing.

"You can't keep doing this to Inoichi. So, as soon as we're done here, you're going back to the office."

"Aw, come on, Ku-"

"Now, would you all like some dessert?"

Shikaku turned to look at the woman, only to see Minato physically deflate at being ignored by his wife. And he began to feel somewhat bad for the guy after having thrown him at the wolves that were his wife and son.

He wasn't really a person for sweets. But he knew that Kushina had a purpose for having directed the attention off of Minato. So he nodded softly, all the while Kiba mumbled out his own agreement.

The fiery red head smiled much too happily for it to be normal and made her way out of the dining room to fetch what dessert she had managed to whip up among the storm she had become once she'd found out Shikaku and Shikamaru would be staying for food too.

"Alright. Kiba, it's about time we found out, what in the world were you doing that you wound up completely exhausted?"

Minato, miraculously, did not seem like a man that had just been sentenced to his office desk for a night. Instead he seemed like a man that was worried about the well being of one of his son's friends. And Shikaku had no idea just how he was able to forget about his pressing duty so quickly.

The Inuzuka glared at him, mumbled out a hurried, "Training", and closed his eyes so he could rest his head on the table in front of him.

"What kind of _training_ ends up with you completely depleted of chakra and unable to stand up?"

Shikaku was, honestly, completely caught off guard by the sudden shift in the pink haired teenager's personality. He had considered her quiet and proper, but she suddenly looked much too reminiscent of a certain hot tempered woman he knew.

Hmm... Maybe she was mostly permissive with most things... Except for anything to do with _health_? She was most probably the medical ninja on her team, after all.

"Kiba, I don't care what you think you know, but you cannot be playing around with your chakra like this. Naruto found you passed out- do you have any idea how many dangers you run from just being _unconscious_?"

From beside him, Shikaku heard a soft, "Troublesome harpy." that let him know that Shikamaru was not all that pleased to have to hear this new argument.

"'m fine..." Kiba grumbled out in a slur, raising his head to glare at Sakura. "Wait a minute, why's she here?" His eyes widened comically in alarm, then he glared over at Naruto. "I said no Sakuras! You traitor!"

"No me- why you little!"

"Sakura, he's injured. Throttling him will only aggravate him!"

"I'm sorry, Kiba!"

Shikaku couldn't stop himself; he joined in on Sasuke and Shikamaru's own heavy sigh as a new round of arguments and shouting began.

As the loud mouths argued over Kiba's predicament and health, Shikaku took the chance to look them all over. Minato looked like a worried adult, all the while Sakura looked like someone that had just gotten pissed off because of blatant stupidity around her; honestly, he couldn't completely blame her. Kiba, even as tired as he looked, continued to snarl and argue back as best he could. And, finally, Naruto looked... Huh, he hadn't been expecting that.

Naruto looked _betrayed_.

Where had he seen that look before?

Closing his eyes, Shikaku tried to remember where he had last seen the expre- _right!_ On their first 'date'; when they had gone to Kiba's favorite restaurant. Naruto had work that _same exact_ expression for a moment... But, just as back then, it didn't make sense for him to look like this now. From what he had heard, it seemed that Kiba was the only person with a right to feel betrayed.

The argument continued to drone on and on, leaving Shikaku to completely tune it out until he heard what could be considered his name.

"Don't worry about me, you jerks! Nara can walk me home."

"Huh?"

Kiba was looking directly at him, even though Shikamaru had been the one to make the surprised noise. His eyes were wide and pleading, silently begging him to go along with what he was proposing.

"Right, Lord Shikaku?"

He had no idea what he was agreeing to. But Kiba must have been desperate to call on him in front of so many people he cared about.

"Sure. I don't mind."

Kiba breathed out a heavy sigh of relief and allowed his body to slump, even as Sakura eyed _him_ with distrust clear in her eyes- what had he done to earn that?- and Minato nodded in agreement.

"Then it's settled. Shikaku will make sure Kiba gets back home safe." Minato clapped his hands together, then stood up from the table and pointed towards the kitchen, "I'll go see how the dessert's coming along."

..~..~..

There was going to be another bit to this chapter, but I decided that it was long enough and substance filled as it is. So, good news is that the next chapter has already begun to be written!

Please review and tell me what you thought!


	16. Chapter 16

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult. And some more angst. Friends are kind of extreme jerks, really, and they don't even notice it. Did I, by any chance, say angst already? Mentions of alcohol and technically underage alcohol consumption.

~..~..~

Never in a million years did Kiba ever think he would be thinking he was lucky to have Shikaku around. But right now, stuck inside of the Namikaze home with overdramatic people that didn't understand that he just needed some space to _breathe_... Well, Shikaku was _not_ one of those people. So Kiba was able to appreciate him much more easily.

"And you'll make sure he gets home, right? Without any trouble?"

Kiba huffed even as Akamaru grunted and finished his meal.

Like Naruto had said, the dog had eventually caught up with them. Kushina had quickly offered him a meal and the dog had accepted it without a single beat of hesitation, both exhausted and starving.

"Naruto, it's just walking Kiba back to his Clan Compound. I think I am more than capable of completing this without messing anything up." Shikaku sounded as if he was tired of everyone's shit and Kiba couldn't blame the guy.

He wasn't made out of glass- he could handle himself very well, thank you. He didn't need Sakura, Minato, and Naruto harping on him and squawking about health and being smarter with training measures and _blah_. Yes, he had drained his body of all of its chakra reserves. Yes, he was exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a whole day. But, no, he did not need people telling him things he already knew about unsafe measures.

"Maybe you should take Shikamaru with you, Lord Shikaku. That way, in case you need any help, he's right there and you don't have to worry about anything." Sakura offered and Kiba wanted to finally blow up at her and tell her to lay off, he didn't need these many babysitters.

He kept quiet, though, and continued to sway slightly on his own two feet.

He preferred to sway and feel sick to his stomach without anybody's help. Every time someone had offered to help him by giving him an arm to hang onto, he'd glared and glowered until they had finally retracted their offer.

"I'm going home. My father is more than capable of getting Kiba home, Sakura." Shikamaru, thankfully, seemed to be the only non-totally insane person in the group... Aside from Shikaku, of course.

Sasuke hadn't said anything overbearing and overdramatic over his health, but he also hadn't said anything to back up the Nara's point of view. If anything, Sasuke looked as if he was sick and tired of having to listen everyone going on and on about his health. Kiba couldn't blame him, nor did he completely care. He'd never been particularly close to the Uchiha so his given view on different things didn't matter much to Kiba... At all.

Quite frankly, the only reason he even spoke with the Uchiha sometimes was because he was on Naruto's genin team. They may have been in the Academy together, but there certainly was not much to keep them close or even _wanting_ to interact.

"But, Shikamaru!"

"Thank you for the meal, it was delicious." Shikamaru ignored Naruto and bowed slightly at his mother, who smiled kindly and nodded in return. Then he turned back to his father and sighed, "I guess I'll see you at home."

Shikaku nodded without saying a single thing. Shikamaru walked off and, as he did so, his father turned to look at Minato and Kushina. "Thank you both for the meal. I hope the deer I brought you-"

"It's going to be used for a delicious meal that you will be invited to, Shika. Don't you worry about that." Kushina smiled, although it didn't quite reach her eyes as she chanced a glance at Kiba. "Get him home safe, please."

Kiba wanted to scream at them all that he was fine.

He opted to not do so, though, and allowed Shikaku to mumble out a lazy assurance about not messing up.

Quite frankly, Kiba could not have been happier to finally be able to live the Namikaze home. He liked all of the members of the family... But at the moment, they were just not what he needed in his life.

Even though he'd never say it out loud, he was a thousand times more comfortable around Shikaku Nara now than around those he had known his whole life.

* * *

They walked in silence for the most part. Every now and again, Shikaku would hear Kiba hiss out in pain and he'd chance a glance at him, just to make sure he wouldn't keel over, but he didn't do much aside from that. He knew the Inuzuka hated to be fussed over _and_ that he would eventually say something if he thought it was actually worth mentioning.

Shikaku was not the kind to meddle and he knew Kiba appreciated that.

At one point, Shikaku found his hand forced, though, and he had to grab Kiba's shoulders to keep him standing up right. The teenager lurched to the side in a jerky sort of spasm that would have left him sprawled on the ground if not for Shikaku having reacted.

Instead of growling and telling him he was fine, Kiba merely mumbled out a halfhearted try at seeming thankful for the help.

Shikaku merely patted him on the back, straightened him up, and made sure to walk a few inches closer to the Inuzuka to make sure there was no chance of him falling again.

A couple of seconds after that, Kiba murmured out, "They want us to kiss."

He had, childishly enough, hoped to not have to talk about that to the kid just yet. It wasn't really the right place to be discussing it, honestly. They were alone in the most solitary forest path into the Inuzuka compound, but that didn't mean they could not be overheard if someone happened to pass nearby.

With a soft sigh, Shikaku looked up at the night sky.

"How do you feel about that?"

The teenager remained quiet for a good minute. During that minute, Shikaku made sure to keep close to him in case he started to fall again, but did nothing else.

Eventually Kiba came up with an answer that managed to catch Shikaku off guard.

"Honestly... I don't know..."

In all honesty, he had expected to hear a slurred, heavily weighed down, yet completely impassioned rant about why the Elders sucked this time around. He had been prepared to weather the tired yet angered growls of the Inuzuka as he said everything he thought about the Elders that just continued to toy around with their lives as if they were nothing more than playthings to knock around.

For a couple of seconds, they both remained quiet.

Then Kiba elaborated, "I was confused and scared when I heard about it this morning. That's why I trained so hard today- I was frustrated and had nothing else to try and help myself other than just physically exhaust myself."

Shikaku had heard about the set date for their 'First Official Date'. He had received the news this morning, but been able to put it out of his mind with a sigh of 'That's life, can't change it, and there's enough time left to prepare'.

"So that's why Naruto found you in the middle of nowhere with almost no chakra? You did this to yourself on purpose?"

The night was peaceful and cool, the trees' branches swayed in the light breeze in a lazy dance, and the full moon could be seen peeking out from behind lazy clouds; in all, it was a beautiful night. The kind of night, now that he thought about it, that Yoshino would fawn over during their younger year's as she damaged her eyesight reading romantic books beneath a flashlight.

She would never admit it to anyone, but the woman had needed to use prescriptiom glasses ever since they had been teenagers. She was blessed in the fact that she was only required to use them _sometimes_ , rather than all the time... When she read, specifically. He couldn't help but smile at the memory: Yoshino had only ever let him and Shikamaru know that she needed glasses to read. She would have rather died before she allowed anyone else to know.

"Yeah... Do I have to apologize?"

"Not to me, Kiba." Shikaku couldn't help but be amused by the triumphant half-cheer Kiba managed to mumble out, causing him to trip over his feet for one or two steps. "Although, maybe, you should apologize to the Hokage, his family, and your friends. They were worried." He pondered over what to say next, then murmured, "Especially Naruto."

There was something more to their relationship. Shikaku wasn't sure just how _far_ this friendship went, but he knew for a fact that regular friends wouldn't look betrayed when their friends were around other people.

"Narutard can go eat dirt for all I care... He promised no Sakuras..." Kiba was absolutely tired, yet he somehow found a way to force anger into his slurred words. Childish anger, no doubt. "It's my body. I can do what I want."

 _That_ was a dangerous train of thought. But Shikaku knew that there was really no point in trying to talk to Kiba about this right now. He was exhausted and clearly annoyed; his head was most definitely not clear enough to think about things objectively.

They fell into silence once again after that.

As they reached the path that led deeper into the forest and towards the Inuzuka Clan's Compound, Shikaku heard rustling from behind them. When he turned around to look, it was to find Akamaru walking up to the them with a bone in his mouth.

Hadn't the dog been with them when they left the Namikaze home?

Kiba snorted half heartedly, "You waited for Kushina to give you that, didn't you?"

Akamaru growled sluggishly, chomped at the bone, then walked up to Kiba's side so he was flanking the side that Shikaku wasn't. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was the dog's way to make sure Kiba didn't hurt himself while also showing- to some degree- that he trusted Shikaku.

They began to walk again after that and the silence was only broken when Kiba sighed heavily, "Hey... Shikaku?"

"Hmm?" The man looked at Kiba from the corners of his eyes, even though he continued facing the road before them.

In a couple of minutes, they would be reaching the Inuzuka Compound's front gate. If they had been walking any faster, they would have already reached it. But Kiba was much too tired to walk any faster than in an almost slow crawl, and Shikaku was more than happy to match that speed.

The kid's head was facing the ground. Shikaku could see what he assumed to be a frown on his lips. And his eyebrows seemed to be scrunched up from the creases on his forehead. "Can you… You're Jounin Commander, right? Like, you help the Hokage make teams to send people out on missions and things like that?"

Immediately, Shikaku caught onto the teenager's line of thought. And he wanted to tell him no, he could _not_ send him on any missions. The Elders had made the ruling and they really weren't the kind of people they wanted to be defying at the moment. Those aged relics were more than happy to show off their powers- even though Shikaku didn't like it, they weren't much more than puppets on strings currently.

But Kiba clearly needed some kind of vacation from his own Clan. Minato had already caught on to his souring mood. His friends were at a loss because of his sudden disinterest in them. And he was so stressed and confused by what was happening that he had decided that punishing his body was a good escape. The kid needed something to help him forget about his woes. If even for a little while.

"You want me to look in on something for you."

Kiba didn't say anything. He barely even nodded. He kept his gaze on the ground as his body seemed to shrink into itself. And Shikaku felt any kind of resolve against the idea melt away.

No kid ever deserved to look this miserable.

"I'll see what I can do."

The smile sent his way was not as bright as he knew the Inuzuka could give. But it was bright enough to let Shikaku knew that Kiba truly appreciated what he would do for him.

… Troublesome…

* * *

His mother had told him that, as punishment for having been stupid enough to completely drain his chakra reserves, he would have to help Hana out at the Clinic.

Kiba had immediately told her that there was no way in hell he would ever do that- his sister was a bitch and he didn't want to spend anymore time than he _had to at home_ around her.

So that's how he had been forced into having to attend a week-long 'seminar' for proper partners. In essence, he would have to go to an old hag's house to learn even more about stupid things he would have to do around the house to keep his husband happy... And there was no way he could save himself from those stupid lessons.

Kiba wanted to scream and break things.

Instead, he went to his next best option.

"Hey! Inuzuka! I haven't seen you in a while."

Kotetsu, bless his heart, seemed to be the only person in the Village that actually cared about him. He was always more than happy to greet him whenever they managed to find each other. And he was always willing to listen to him. Kiba was sure that if he tried to tell Kotetsu all about his current problems, the man would do so without any single kind of hesitation. He just hadn't done it because he didn't want the Elders to be able to hold _that_ over him.

"Ko! Do I have news for you!"

Kotetsu seemed unbelievably happy while he sat inside of the booth that served him for his Gate Guarding duties. But Kiba merely attributed that to the fact that he was now here and happened to be a perfect distraction for the monotony of gate duty.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Get in here and tell me all about whatever it is that you want to tell me!" The older male waved him over and Kiba made his way inside of the booth to sit beside him.

It was odd that Kotetsu was working the Gate alone, but he wasn't about to question a good thing. At least with only him around, Kiba wouldn't have to worry about some weirdo listening in on their conversation.

Without really waiting for Kotetsu to push him into telling him the story, Kiba recounted his tale of finally being able to perform the combination jutsu he and Akamaru had been working on for the past weeks. Kotetsu, as expected, awed and ooh'd at the tale, then cheered when Kiba finished with thanking him for having found the books he had needed to come up with the idea.

Kotetsu jumped onto him with pure glee, beginning to talk about all the other ideas they could come up with for awesome, kickass jutsu. Kiba patted his back awkwardly, all the while Akamaru gnawed at the bone Kushina had given him while laying by his feet.

They were interrupted by someone clearing their throats.

"Inuzuka, if you're not on duty, you can't be in there."

The glare that was directed at him by Kotetsu's supposed best friend could have _killed_.

All of the happiness that had previously surrounded both of them was drained as soon as they noticed Izumo standing over them.

"Oh, come on, Zumo!" Kotetsu tried to argue in Kiba's favor, but the Inuzuka stopped him.

He knew when he wasn't wanted.

"How about we meet up tomorrow or something? Ichiraku's?" He offered awkwardly as he stepped out of the booth.

Izumo was busy glaring daggers at him. And he did _not_ like it at all. He hadn't done anything!

"Sure. Five in the afternoon good for you? I got gate duty... _Again_."

Kiba nodded, murmured for Akamaru to follow him, and ran off.

It had been fun to see Kotetsu again and talk to him. But that Izumo guy gave him the creeps.

Just what was his problem, anyway?

* * *

Shikaku found the perfect mission to send Kiba on. And he ignored all kind of warnings from his Elders as he told them he would be sending him out. Kiba truly was trying his best to acclimate to the situation he'd been forced into; why in the world would they stop him from doing something he loved just to keep him inside a Village that was slowly suffocating him and driving him insane?

Getting the Inuzuka Elders to lift Kiba's grounding had been difficult. But he'd managed to convince them to do so when he told them about how even Lord Minato had caught on to the kid's souring mood. If even a man renowned for his ignorance was catching on, what would stop anybody else? And a displeased heir just wasn't the kind of image they wanted to be portraying, now was it?

They had only asked for two things in return. And they were troublesome things. But Shikaku had agreed to the terms.

When he went to talk to Kiba, it was to find that he wasn't within the Inuzuka Compound. His sister actually told him to go and look in his office, much to his surprise.

Did Kiba really prefer to spend time in his office rather than stay in his own home? Did these people not see how completely _wrong_ that was?

Still, Shikaku made his way back to his office with the approved mission papers tucked neatly into his pockets. And when he entered the room, it was to find Kiba rotating slowly on his chair, all the while Akamaru slumbered on his couch.

"Comfortable?"

"Extremely so."

"You're in a better mood." Shikaku closed the door behind him with a small smirk, actually relieved to find out that Kiba seemed much happier this morning than he had the past night. "What changed?"

"Akamaru and I were able to see Naruto, Sasuke, and Jiraiya getting booted out of the hot springs when we came here. It was one of the funniest things I've ever witnessed in my short life." Kiba's smile was broad and mischievous, a true testament to how much he truly loved life when he wasn't being bogged down by irksome Clan duties. "You're later than usual."

Shikaku shrugged softly as he made his way over to his couch, sitting down on the bit of furniture that wasn't taken up by large dog. "I was working on fulfilling a promise I foolishly made last night."

He closed his eyes for a moment, intent on getting some sleeping done before he was forced to work again.

"What? Really?!"

Suddenly the Nara found eager hands on his shoulders, jolting him away from any sort of relaxation and forcing him to open his eyes and find an excited Kiba jumping in front of him. "Were you able to get anything?"

"Yeah, yeah." Shikaku offered the kid the scroll he'd carried around with him during the morning, "We leave in a week."

"We?" Kiba's voice suddenly lost its strength and Shikaku sighed.

"Only way I got your Elders to let you leave." He admitted, "The details are in the scroll."

Kiba nodded, sudden burst of energy completely missing as he moved his hands away from Shikaku's shoulders to grab the paper. It was almost heartbreaking how fast the kid's whole demeanor had changed.

The minutes in which Kiba read the mission over, Shikaku took the opportunity to pull out the documents he would need to work on during the day. And when Kiba finally spoke up, the man was already seated at his desk with his first file opened.

"It's a standard tracking mission. How're you gonna justify leaving your job to go on it?"

Shikaku shrugged softly, "Standard, but A-Rank. Target's dangerous… Maybe I'll say that the rest of our best counters to her are already out on missions, so it's best to avoid risk…"

He honestly had not thought about an explanation for going on the mission with Kiba that would convince Minato to let him go. And he felt odd when he fumbled for a good answer.

But Kiba seemed convinced with it, for he nodded and rolled up the scroll. "Sounds good…" A bright smile was on his lips again, but it wasn't as big as the one Shikaku had seen when he'd begun to talk with him. "I'm just happy I'll finally be able to get outta here."

Shikaku nodded absently at his words, beginning to wonder about other possible reasons he could give Minato.

Normally, three chunin would be sent on a mission of this caliber, if they were intelligent enough to convince Shikaku. A jounin and two chunin would also have been sent if there had been a jounin available. But Shikaku was more than just an average jounin- it might be seen as unnecessary for him to go with two others.

Well… Konoha was stretched thin because of the sudden outflow of their best trackers. And, while Kiba was trustworthy, he wasn't too seasoned. If Shikaku were to spin it in the right way, he would be able to convince Minato that the only shinobi needed to complete the mission would just be the two of them…

Well, the Elders had wanted to see them together more often.

Talking about that, "Oh, and we've got to go on a date tonight."

"Seriously?"

"Elders want to see us actually spending time together in public. Your Elders said they would have eyes on us."

Kiba groaned as he fell back into the couch where Shikaku had previously sat, jarring Akamaru and making the dog bark at him. Kiba sneered back at him, effectively cutting off any of the dog's growls.

Shikaku felt somewhat bad for the dog, but didn't comment on his feelings. Instead he just focused on his work, more than aware that he would need to leave no work undone before he went off on his mission.

* * *

He felt like he could breathe easier now that he knew he would finally be leaving the Village.

Yeah, he'd have to go with Shikaku. And the mission itself wasn't the most comforting kind of mission. But those two things amount to just one small downside on the rather large victory Kiba had just been allowed.

Yeah, he'd never gone on an assassination before. But he guessed that Shikaku must have known this already. If he thought that this mission really was the best fit for him, then the man must be sure that they would be able to complete the mission successfully, even with his complete lack of experience in killing.

Having gotten this good news and having witnessed Naruto, Jiraiya, and Sasuke getting in trouble all helped him forget about the uneasy confrontation with Izumo from this morning. It seemed like things were finally starting to brighten up for him; if only a little.

"If they want us to go out on a date, why don't we go now?" Kiba muttered from his spot lying on the floor, eyes focused on the roof above him.

He had spent a good hour of his life wondering how it would look with kunai sticking from it. And Akamaru had forced him to remember that this was not his office, he could not impart such wanton destruction just because he felt comfortable in here. It had been an exercise in impulse control, now that he thought about it. Because his hands were still itching to grab a kunai and see how hard he had to chuck it to cause it to impale the ceiling.

"Are you sure? There're more people around the Village during this hour than at night."

Kiba shrugged softly, feeling unusually confident at the moment. Must have been the happiness from finally being able to leave the Village. "We're supposed to be seen by others, right? The more people that see us, the more that'll start talking. The faster they start talking, the faster the Elders will get off my ass. Besides, we've got less than two weeks to go for our kiss."

It sucked, but it seemed that the only way he'd get a reprieve from his over bearing Clan was to finally get married with Shikaku and move away from them.

"Well, if that's what you want to do."

Shikaku packed up without much difficulty. But Kiba knew it wasn't because he had finished with the work he was supposed to be doing. All Nara had such a deeply ingrained hatred for work that whenever an opportunity to get away from it arose, they actually moved quickly to cash in on it.

Once Shikaku had finished up with locking up his files and they were out on the streets of Konoha, Akamaru following closely but at a comfortable distance, Kiba reminded the man about his turn to choose where to eat.

"You're actually going to let me choose?"

"Dude, what has your interaction with my Clan been until now?" Kiba questioned with actual worry, "Has it only been with ma? 'Cause if it has, I'm real sorry."

"It hasn't been just your mother, Inuzuka." Shikaku breathed out as he shoved his hands into his pockets, "Just those that are a lot like her."

Kiba felt sad for the guy. He really did. Ma was horrible and he was her kid. He had no idea how terrible she could be to someone that wasn't from his Clan.

"I am so sorry."

Shikaku rolled his eyes and Kiba allowed himself a small smile.

It all felt rather natural now, being around Shikaku and not feeling like he'd rat on him to his Elders.

It was weird.

"So, where are we going?"

"You're sixteen, right?"

Kiba looked at him with a completely stunned look, "Did you forget your kid's age?"

Shikaku settled an unamused glare on him, but Kiba could see the slight quirk of the corner of his lips, so he didn't worry about actually pissing the man off.

"I was thinking about going to my favorite bar and wanted to make sure that you were legally allowed to drink."

Oh. That made sense.

Kiba shrugged, "You know the law. Any ninja below eighteen's gotta be accompanied by a Jounin or someone above twenty one years of age."

"Alright. Then we're going to my favorite bar."

"Sounds like a plan!"

Kiba'd never gone to a bar before. But from the stories he'd heard from his mother, shinobi bars were some of the most fun yet incredibly sad places one could visit. And he was pretty excited to see that.

~/~

His mother had been right.

He wasn't sure how to explain it, but there was a decidedly festive mood within the shinobi bar, even though it was dragged down by an underlying pain that screamed of people eager to drown their sorrows in alcohol.

"Huh. Inoichi's here…" He heard Shikaku remark softly as the man began to move in the Yamanaka's direction, "Wonder where Choza is."

Kiba didn't answer the man's words, seeing how they were clearly not meant for him. Instead, he spent his time looking over the large space that was the Hidden Drink's main area.

Square wooden tables were placed all around, and most were already filled with shinobi taking some time off of their days to drink. There was a rather large bar nestled into the bottom left corner of the place, where there were three bartenders working to sate the clearly ravenous needs of their clientele. And there was a second floor, but Kiba could see a fine red rope cutting off the bottom of the stairs; which most probably meant that the second floor was off limits.

Inoichi Yamanaka was the only man sitting at one of the tables that sat four people. There were some that sat two, and others that sat more than six.

"Shikaku." Inoichi's smile was bright as his eyes fell on his friend, but they lost some of that gleam when they fell on the teenager the man brought along. "Kiba too?"

Kiba smiled at him; although it was a somewhat reluctant smile; and nodded, "Shikaku offered lunch."

Inoichi looked absolutely stunned by this. But instead of scolding Kiba for even daring to enter a Shinobi bar, he turned his deadly glare onto Shikaku, "You offer him lunch at a bar? Shikaku, what in the world were you thinking?"

Shikaku breathed out as he sat himself down at the chair in front of Inoichi, "That if I didn't make it here, you'd still be on my ass."

Kiba stifled the smirk that wanted to take over his lips at the answer, but took Shikaku's own ease as a sign of everything being alright. So he sat down on the chair beside the Nara, quickly turning his eyes away from both Clan Heads to continue looking over the Hidden Drink.

It was much cleaner than what he had imagined a shinobi bar might have been.

"Is that really the only explanation you'll give me?"

Ino was her father's daughter, Kiba found himself thinking ruefully. Worried too much and asked too many questions. Was it just their part of the family or was it a Clan thing?

"I could give you a dozen others and you would still scold me for bringing a sixteen year old to a bar. Inoichi, there is literally nothing I could say to make this seem like a good idea in your eyes." Shikaku closed his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly looking a lot like Shikamaru when he was about to get scolded by Ino.

Just like the younger Nara, it was easy to see that Shikaku didn't want to hear any of this. But, just like his son, he stayed put and prepared himself for the verbal assault that would be unleashed upon him by the Yamanaka.

It was rather amusing.

Kiba decided to step in and save Shikaku.

"When can we eat?" He asked with forced enthusiasm, trying to seem as if he had not been paying attention to their conversation. "I'm kinda hungry."

Inoichi blinked at him for a second, sighed and shook his head, and finally pointed over at the bar in the corner. "There's a menu up there. We usually buy the sampler because Choza likes the dumplings… But he's not coming."

"Hmm?" Shikaku chimed in, causing Inoichi to shrug softly.

"Last minute paperwork he needed to fill out. You know how it is."

"Hmm."

"Anyway, if you would like, Kiba, we could go up there and see if there's anything you like enough to want to share. And if not, I'm sure that you'll find something you'd like to get for yourself."

Kiba thought about his options for a moment, then shrugged, "Just get your usual thing. I'll eat anything as long as it tastes good."

He didn't miss the much too meaningful look Inoichi gave Shikaku. And he immediately knew that he was remembering his lack of appetite the last time he had been around. But, really, there was no need for him to worry. He had gotten better recently. Besides, he was in a good mood and had received amazing news from Shikaku. He highly doubted there was anything that could happen to him now that would bring him down now that he'd found out he'd be able to leave the Village in a week. His stomach wasn't in knots and uncomfortable- he was _fine_.

"What'll you drink?" Shikaku asked in an exhaled breath as he pushed himself away from the table.

Right, he was going to pay for him. Good man.

"Would asking for sake be too much?"

"Yes."

"Eh, you're old enough."

Inoichi turned a deadly glare back onto Shikaku and the Nara turned his eyes up to the ceiling, as if silently asking why he had decided to go along with this plan.

Kiba smirked at this and turned the wolfish grin onto Inoichi, "C'mon, I'm Tsume's kid. Trust me."

That didn't seem to ease any of the blonde's worries though. His frown was still clear on his lips and the look on his eyes reminded Kiba a lot of that one time Ino had grabbed him by the ear to force him to clean up the mess Akamaru had made in her garden.

"You can have one shot of sake. And that's it. You're still only sixteen."

Kiba smiled at him, actually surprised that he'd relented. He had expected to not get a single drop of alcohol.

Shikaku slunk away from them and over to the bar to make the order, leaving Kiba to look over the establishment once again.

He could recognize a couple of the people in here, but a lot of them were a bunch of no-names he'd never worked with before. Some were rowdy, others were sulking, but most were just talking and enjoying a rather chill atmosphere.

"I'm sorry for Shikaku… He's not the most well adjusted individual when it comes to social interactions."

Kiba smiled at that thought, "Might just be an understatement, Lord Inoichi… But it was my idea to go out now. He just offered up the place to eat."

Okay, his good mood was being dragged down just a tiny bit over being reminded as to just why he was in here. He and Shikaku were supposed to be out on a date together because his Elders were evil sons of bitches that had nothing better to do with their lives than ruin the lives of others.

"Ah, right… You two have to be seen together…" Inoichi commented off handedly and Kiba nodded quietly. "Well, I can say you've been doing a good job of it. Some of the more observant shinobi are already noticing."

This was a good thing, Kiba told himself.

But that thought didn't make swallowing any easier.

Both males fell into a semi-amicable silence at that point. Kiba didn't really have anything to say to Inoichi- what was he supposed to tell a Clan Head that happened to be the father of a girl he knew but didn't really consider a close friend? And it seemed that the sentiment was reciprocated, Inoichi didn't try and begin another conversation.

When Shikaku returned, it was with a heavy frown on his scarred face and a glare at Inoichi.

"Why does that troublesome woman insist on flirting with me? Can she not understand that I am not interested?"

It was funny to hear him grumbling about this. But Kiba couldn't believe anyone was willingly flirting with a Nara. In his eyes, they seemed to have absolutely no sex appeal. And Shikaku was at the top of the list of the least sexually interesting people… All Nara looked like they would just lay on the bed and allow their partners to do all the work…

"You weren't complaining about that when you received a free round of drinks last week." Inoichi warned him in amusement, only to have Shikaku huff as he sat down.

"Well I'm complaining now, even though she gave us a round of free drinks this time, too."

Inoichi rolled his eyes at his friend's theatrics. And Kiba found it extremely amusing to see these two interacting.

It literally was like watching an older Ino and Shikamaru interacting with one another.

* * *

When he felt a pinch at his side, Shikaku knew that it may have not been a good idea to bring Kiba into the potentially dangerous environment a shinobi bar could become. But when he turned to look over at the teenager, he found himself finding it hard to believe his previous thought.

The smile Kiba was giving him now was a purely mischievous one the man knew the kid had not used in a while.

"You know how to use transformation jutsu, right?"

Shikaku found it worrying that Kiba was whispering. But he merely nodded, ignoring Inoichi trying to listen in on their conversation.

One shot of sake had become two shots and one beer. Kiba sat upright in his chair and he'd eaten much more than the last time Inoichi had seen him, but he also had an unmistakable hint of pink on his cheeks that could only be attributed to the alcohol flowing through him.

Probably, it had been a bad idea to listen to the kid insisting that he could handle another drink when Inoichi had tried to stop Shikaku from buying a new round. But he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol ever since this arranged marriage business had begun, Kiba was good enough company to be around, and Shikaku had a very comfortable couch he could return to if he wound up drinking too much.

Quite frankly, there really wasn't much of a reason for Inoichi to be so worried.

"Can you make Akamaru look like he's the floor? I got a good plan ta con these pansies outta their money."

Shikaku didn't have to look at his friend to know that he was shaking his head and trying to warn him against listening to Kiba. But the kid looked like he actually believed in his plan. And, if anything went wrong with said plan, Shikaku knew he had enough pull to keep him out of trouble. Two shots inside of his system or not, he was still Jounin Commander and the boss of just about everyone inside of the bar.

"I can do that… What're you thinking?"

"Arm wrestling contest." Kiba's eyes sparkled with a light that could only ever be attributed to a trickster, "Testosterone fueled guys hopped up on alcohol'll be more'an eager ta prove they're stronger than some chunin. Right when they're 'bout to win, Akamaru nips their heels, they lose concentration, I win."

Shikaku could find at least a dozen different ways this plan could go wrong. But Kiba looked like he truly believed in his plan. And Shikaku had never been allowed to see this side of Kiba; the mischievous trickster he had only gotten to hear about from Shikamaru's groans about annoying friends years ago.

Against his better judgment, Shikaku nodded. "Akamaru'll look like the floor."

The smirk he was gifted was feral and prepared; a somewhat scary reminder of just who this teenager was related to.

When he settled back into his chair, Inoichi glared at him pointedly.

"This is a horrible idea."

Shikaku merely sipped at his drink, faintly hearing Kiba beginning to croon and call people over to his challenge.

"When was the last time you saw him this happy?"

Inoichi shut up but still glared at his friend. Shikaku knew the victory was bitter, but at least it would get Inoichi off of his back for a while.

The first man to challenge Kiba was one of the men on the Hokage's Protection Squad. Genma Shiranui was a competent shinobi, but he wasn't made for strength. His true strength came from his speed. But he also enjoyed having a good laugh and he must have found the idea of a chunin possibly beating him at arm wrestling so preposterous that it was worth a shot.

Kiba did a good job of looking as if he were about to lose. But right when Genma was getting the upper hand, the kid turned the tables on him and pushed his arm back until it was a breath away from the table.

Without even needing Akamaru, Kiba forced Genma's knuckles onto the table.

It was a smart move. If Kiba revealed his trump card from the very beginning, people would be onto him. But if he beat a handful of people on his own, the shinobi around him were capable of believing the kid's unbelievable victories.

The next man to step forward was Iwashi, who was much deeper into his drinking than Genma, and lost much faster than his friend. Kiba had not even made a show of it.

After him, came Raidou.

Shikaku watched all of the action from the corner of his eyes, wanting to make sure that nothing got out of hand.

This would be Kiba's true test. If he was able to defeat Raidou convincingly, nobody would actually question his subsequent victories.

The bout began and neither male gave terrain. But after a couple of seconds of being forced into a stalemate, Raidou managed to grab the upper hand, forcing Kiba's arm down. Only a couple more inches and the kid would lose…

Right when Kiba was in serious threat of losing, Shikaku saw Akamaru move. Under the cover of his jutsu, he was the only person to see him. But the dog knocked his head against Raidou's chair, harsh enough to make the man feel it, but light enough to not make the chair move, and that was enough of a distraction. Raidou lost his concentration, Kiba forced his arm down onto the table, and the crowd that had gathered around them began to cheer.

"Time to pay up, boys." Kiba laughed heartily as the three men dug out their wallets, although Raidou would glance every now and again to the chair he had sat on.

Kiba managed to win three more bouts without needing Akamaru's help when a silver haired jounin walked up to them.

Shikaku eyed Kakashi warily, more than aware of the analytical spark inside of the man's only visible eye.

Hatake was smart. Dangerously so. He came from a Clan, had even been an Heir, so he knew about many of the intricacies within Clans that regular non-Clan members of the population were unaware of. And he'd watched Kiba grow up before his eyes, much like with Naruto.

Kakashi wasn't the kind of person that normally corralled people and tried to keep them protected. But those he loved were some he kept close to his heart. And Kiba seemed to be someone that he had some sort of love for, although he wasn't the best at showing it.

"Having fun?"

"Kashi Sensei!"

Shikaku barely stifled his wince when Kiba suddenly jumped away from his chair and latched onto the older male.

Alright. The alcohol was hitting him hard now.

Shikaku didn't even have to look at his best friend to know that he was smiling smugly. But he wouldn't admit to maybe having cut Kiba off sooner being a good idea. That would make his past victory become Inoichi's. And he just couldn't have that.

"I've gotten so much money!" Kiba pointed over at the stack of somewhat neatly piled bills on his table, but soon released the man and sat himself back down. "What're you doing here?"

Pointing behind him, Kakashi showed them Asuma and Kurenai. "The Senseis decided to get a drink. The rest of the Rookies are looking for you, you know."

"Really?"

Kakashi nodded, although his eye never left Kiba's own.

Shikaku immediately knew something was up.

"Impromptu get together or something… You should go find them."

Kiba perked up at this, but soon his mood sobered up and he turned to look at Shikaku.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the Inuzuka was asking for permission to leave.

Shikaku feigned ignorance, though, and merely quirked a questioning eyebrow up at him. He wasn't sure just how Kiba would ask to go, but he was even more worried about how he would look if he rushed him away.

"We can continue later?" Kiba offered softly, and Shikaku knew that, even though he had alcohol within him, he was more than clear headed enough to understand what he was asking.

"Yeah. Come back to my office once you're done. We can continue organizing things."

The smile that plastered itself onto the kid's face was unbelievably bright.

Shikaku was caught off guard when Kiba suddenly squeezed him tightly. But before he could even react, Kiba was grabbing all of his hard earned money, and then jumping away from the table, loudly calling for Akamaru to follow him as he began to run.

When the dog appeared from beneath the chair, Shikaku heard Raidou suddenly screaming about having gotten conned. But he was too busy glaring back at Kakashi to truly listen to the drunken tokujo.

Shikaku knew it was only a matter of time before Kakashi said anything. If he wanted to avoid any sort of confrontation, he would have to act fast.

… Well… Alcohol seemed like a good enough solution.

"Another round!"

He would regret it later, but at least he would buy time and avoid Kakashi's questions.

..~..~..

So sorry for not updating in a while. But I have very limited access to computers at the moment, so writing this new chapter was not a speedy process. I am currently working on fixing my laptop, though. So, hopefully, I'll be able to go back to writing normally sooner rather than later.

Please review!


	17. Chapter 17

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult. And some more angst. Friends are kind of extreme jerks, really, and they don't even notice it. Did I, by any chance, say angst already? Mentions of alcohol and technically underage alcohol consumption.

~..~..~

Kiba and Akamaru found their friends at Ichiraku's.

With a broad smile, the Inuzuka threw himself over Hinata's shoulders and offered them all a quick hello.

"What took you so long, Dog Breath? And just where were you hiding? We couldn't find you anywhere." Naruto borderline scolded him as Kiba stumbled onto his chair.

For one immature, incredibly impulsive second, Kiba felt like sticking his tongue out at the traitor. He was still rather annoyed by the fact that Naruto had taken him to a place he had clearly known would have held Sakura, even after he had specifically said he did not want to be around the harpy. But he stamped down that childish urge and instead smiled cheekily over at him.

"Went to a bar. Drank my first drink. Sake tastes good."

"Just who took you to a bar?" Shikamaru asked, actually sounding stunned.

Kiba shrugged softly, smile becoming much more sedated. He had to remember that, even though he was extremely happy right now, he had to be careful with his words. He had no idea how his friends might react to hearing about him hanging out with two grown men. _Especially_ considering how both men were parents to some in the group.

He took his time to formulate the best sentences that wouldn't make the situation sound too weird, "I've been helping your dad out organizing his office recently, Shika. He thought I'd been doing a good enough job that he offered to take me to get a drink."

Shikamaru blinked at him, truly perplexed. "Did Dad forget you were my age?"

"Nah. Apparently, he was supposed to meet up with Lord Inoichi and Lord Choza there."

"So he just took you to a bar where his two best friends would be?" Ino gasped, "Kiba, even _we're_ not allowed to go with them when they meet up!"

Scratching at his chin, Kiba merely shrugged, "Well Lord Choza wasn't there 'cause work stuff…"

"Still weird." Chouji breathed out quietly, but Kiba acted as if he hadn't heard it.

Instead, the Inuzuka asked, "So what're we celebrating?"

"Sasuke's going to be sent on his first solo-mission." Sakura informed him, positively beaming while Sasuke tried to curl into the corner of the table- he sure didn't seem to like the attention that was supposed to be on him. "And Naruto and I are going to be sent as joint Team Leaders on another mission."

"Oh, that's goo-"

"We're being sent to Suna as part of a diplomatic mission to strengthen our alliance. We'll be leaving tomorrow." Ino interrupted him, seeming just as happy as Sakura.

Kiba found it hard to keep his smile on his lips. But he tried his best; his friends all deserved the chance to make their Village proud. They were strong and capable shinobi- they all deserved chances to prove themselves.

"That's-"

"And Hinata and I will be …" Shino's words blended and buzzed together until Kiba could only hear the steady hum of voices around him.

The teenager couldn't keep the smile on his face any longer.

Everyone was being sent out on dream missions. Sasuke was climbing up the ranks at an unparalleled speed, while Naruto and Sakura were nipping at his heels. Team 10 was clearly having the time of their lives running around on the missions they were being sent on. And even his teammates, even though they were down a member, were still being sent out with steady frequency.

"That's great to hear guys… Congrats." Because he wasn't able to energize his voice any higher than a flat monotone, Kiba turned away and began to pick at his fingers.

His nails, now that he thought about it, weren't as sharp as he preferred them to be for battle. He hadn't used them in so long that his mother had told him to just cut them as part of the manicure he had been sentenced to as preparation for his subsequent marriage to Shikaku Nara.

Sighing heavily, the Inuzuka closed his eyes as his friends continued to chatter around him.

Well… At least he would be going on a mission with Shikaku… Albeit, that was a mere consolation prize Shikaku had wound up having to fight for. If not for him, Kiba would still be assigned to zero missions and stuck inside the Village, fighting off boredom with no end in sight.

"What about you, Kiba?" Naruto's alarmingly tamed tone managed to break through the fog of hums and make Kiba focus. "Aren't you going on any missions?"

Wouldn't it look weird to his friends that he would be going on a mission with the same man that he'd just been at the bar with? Wouldn't it be a good thing that it would look weird? ... One of the fastest way to spread gossip was to give enough information while not giving everything away so people would end up completely curious.

Sighing, Kiba swallowed his pride and nodded. "Yeah, a small tracking mission. Nothing big. I'm not leaving yet, though; I think I'm supposed to be leaving next week or something."

"Oh, that's cool, Dog Breath! Who're you going with? Maybe I can..."

Just like with Shino, Kiba didn't really hear anything Naruto said. Everything dulled together and Kiba began to feel incredibly out of place.

Just what the hell was he doing here? If there was anything he had learned in the past few months, it was that his friends would _never_ understand him. They questioned, but they didn't help. They weren't the kind of people he should be around unless he didn't have any other choice... These were people he had grown up around, but he could barely even be with anymore.

Hinata was looking at him expectantly, but he hadn't heard her question. Pushing away from his chair, he murmured out, "I just remembered, I gotta get Akamaru back home for a bath."

"What? But you just got here!"

"Sorry, Naruto, I've gotta go."

His friends tried to keep him from going. But Kiba just repeated the Akamaru excuse until they finally let him go.

Soon enough, he found himself walking down the crowded Konoha streets with his hands in his pockets, his extremely good mood nonexistent once again. Akamaru padded quietly after him, for once not trying to scold him over his rude actions and instead just allowing him to wallow in his own pity.

There clearly was an abundance of missions. But it had taken Shikaku Nara to finally give him something.

Kiba couldn't believe this was what his life had become.

* * *

When Shikaku stumbled back to his office, it was with the help of a reluctant and completely irked Inoichi Yamanaka.

"I cannot believe you got drunk. Shikaku, you've still have to go back into your office and finish your work!"

Shikaku frowned at the unnecessary loudness of his friend's voice, only to growl out, "I'm not drunk, Yamanaka. I just needed to seem drunk."

"Sure. I've heard _that_ before, Nara."

Shikaku rolled his eyes at his friend's theatrics, but allowed his arm to remain around the blonde's shoulders.

His plan to avoid all of Kakashi's questions had been successful. Granted, the drinks he had wound up consuming were a bit more than he had contemplated at first. He was still more than alright enough to go back to work, even though he knew that it would be slightly difficult because of the voice in the back of his head screaming at him to just lay down on his comfortable couch and rest his eyes for a bit.

"Of all the stupid things you could have ever done… Drinking on a _Monday_ afternoon."

"Y'know, if you don't want to deal with me, you can just leave me here."

The annoyed Nara found himself regretting ever having spoken up when Inoichi literally dropped him in the spot they had been standing.

"Goodbye, Shikaku."

The Nara huffed as Inoichi strolled away from him; head held high in that pompous way Inoichi adopted whenever he was truly tired of dealing with something he did not consider to be worth his time.

The Yamanaka was much too proud of his actions for his tastes. But Shikaku didn't really want to continue dealing with him either. Between having seen Kiba drinking with the best of them, only to then con shinobi out of their money, and then having to deal with drunken men and women that were at least a decade younger because Shikaku had wanted to avoid Kakashi, Inoichi _may_ have had a right to be in a horrible mood.

Having a right for said mood certainly did not mean he had a right to drop his friend on the floor. Against a wall? Maybe. But certainly not the floor.

Still, Shikaku grumbled as he picked himself up. Once he had completed that task, he glared forward at the hallway he still had to go down to reach his office.

"Could've left me closer…"

Even with the grumbling, Shikaku made his way back towards his office. He was in a somewhat bad mood, seeing how he didn't necessarily enjoy drinking more than he should, _but_ if it saved him from having to face Kakashi unprepared, then he would do the same damn thing all over again.

Last he had seen the Hatake, Genma and Raidou were pulling him into a drinking competition that they were both going to lose. So, yes, at least for today, his goal had been met. A confrontation with Kakashi had been avoided. He knew it seemed petty to do such a thing, but he was very aware that Hatake was no idiot. If they got to talking, there was a chance that the younger male would be able to latch onto information that would lead him to figuring out about the arranged marriage- and Shikaku just could not allow that to happen.

Just what, exactly, was the Hatake's relation with Kiba, anway? Why in the world did he seem to care about the Inuzuka? He wasn't the kid's teacher, so the tie was not a teacher-student relationship... Just _what_ could it be?

Kiba seemed to be particularly close to Minato's family... Maybe the answered lay in that direction?

As he wracked his brain to see if it could produce any memories he may have looked over, Shikaku opened the door into his office. And when he stepped inside, he found himself truly surprised over the sight before him.

"Kiba?"

"Oh, hey, Shikaku." Kiba spared him one glance, but quickly returned to organizing the papers he had scattered all around him. "Hope you don't mind, but I let myself in and got to work."

Shikaku pushed himself away from the doorway to not seem as if he had drank too much- forget it, Inoichi, he hadn't and he was fine- but still remained standing there.

It was odd, wasn't it? Finding Kiba in his office as he worked and organized things wasn't really something he would have ever considered predictable before. But after having the kid around for so long, it just felt normal.

He knew that he had said they would go back to work later... But he honestly had not expected to find the teenager in his office so early.

It _shouldn't_ have felt normal... But it _did._

Wasn't that something funny?

"Weren't you supposed to have been hanging around your friends?" Shikaku asked curiously.

Quite frankly, he was much more interested as to why he had left than bothered by it. Finding Kiba in his office didn't feel like an unwelcome surprise. But it was a surprise, seeing how he was supposed to have been hanging out with his friends, having a good time.

... He didn't seem happy at all anymore.

 _Dammit._

"Yeah…" The kid sighed, shoulders slouching heavily, "I wasn't really feeling it. So I just came here… Woulda gone home, but… Y'know…"

Breathing in deeply, Shikaku resigned himself to the fact that all progress that he'd previously made with Kiba had been lost and the kid was sad once again. Something had happened after Kiba had left that had completely ruined his good mood. All of Shikaku's hard work had been dashed away in a matter of less than two hours.

This is what happened when a Nara actually _tried_.

"I understand." The man muttered as he walked over to his desk, slower than what was normal for him. But Kiba didn't notice it, so Shikaku didn't find himself having to explain his own adventures.

He sat down with a heavy huff at his desk, pulled his chair towards it, and glared down at the papers he'd left to continue when he returned.

All he wanted to do was sleep. But he couldn't really do that right now. Even though he trusted Kiba to a degree, he highly doubted the kid would be ready to keep just how truly lazy he could get a secret.

"Well, I guess we can just finish today's work," Shikaku muttered out loud, although he was thinking more towards himself, "And then go on that date."

"You still wanna go out?"

Shikaku shrugged softly, closing his eyes for a second, "I'm sure the Elders won't be content with the hour and a half we spent together. They should be pleased if we go out for a little bit later… _If_ you feel up to it, of course."

"No, no, I'm fine… You're right; they should be pleased if we go out for a bit longer."

Shikaku knew that Kiba really wasn't feeling up for a date. And he wasn't feeling up for going out later tonight, either. But he didn't dare ask Kiba just what had happened to ruin his good mood, so he couldn't really find a true reason to tell him that it would just be best to go home once the laboral day had ended.

With a soft sigh, he settled down and tried to force himself to work.

~/~

Halfway through the final half of the day, an unexpected visitor dropped by.

The last time Shikaku had seen Hana Inuzuka had been when she had aided in the detainment of a violent dog in front of his office. She had been nothing more than a young chunin trying to make sure that no one tried to kill a misunderstood animal.

It was almost daunting how time happened to change everything.

She was a young woman now, on her way to becoming a tokujo jounin and being inducted into the special Inuzuka Unit of the Hunting and Tracking Corps. She worked as the lead veterinarian in their Clinic on most of her days, enhancing her knowledge of medical and veterinarian ninjutsu through study and practice. This was all standard information, but it certainly made Hana stand out from the rest of her clansmen in his eyes.

"Huh... I thought ma was pulling my leg when she said to check here for you, little bro."

Shikaku had never seen Kiba interacting with his sister before they had become betrothed. But he had been sure of at least one thing- Hana Inuzuka was supposedly a thousand times easier to deal with than Tsume Inuzuka.

From the way Kiba completely ignored Hana without even acknowledging her presence, Shikaku began to wonder just how the teenager's relationship with his sister had soured because of the arranged marriage business.

"Lord Nara, I hope you don't mind, but I've been asked to bring Kiba back to the Compound. There's some issues the Elders need to talk to him about." Without missing a single beat, Hana turned to him and addressed him respectfully in a business-like manner.

This was what an arranged marriage was, after all- a simple business transaction.

Shikaku chanced one glance at Kiba. And immediately regretted it.

The teenager's whole posture was tense; reading of flight or fight rather than comfort. His eyes were focused on the papers in his hands, but the tension in his fingers was clear to see from the creases forming on them. And his jaw was clenched so tight he wouldn't be surprised if the teenager was hurting himself.

"That's a shame..." Shikaku murmured softly, immediately formulating a plan that may have helped Kiba from going somewhere he so clearly did not want to go. "We were going on a date tonight."

"Oh?" Hana blinked in surprise, turning her gaze onto her brother for a moment before focusing back on Shikaku. "I had been told you had already gone out. The Elders-"

"We thought that that wouldn't be enough." Kiba cut in, looking at Shikaku for help. "That's why we decided to go out after work."

"Really?"

Hana didn't sound convinced.

Shikaku came up with a plausible lie that would undoubtedly convince Hana to side with them instead of with the Elders. Kiba clearly did not want to be anywhere near his Clan's Compound- maybe that also extended to being with his sister. So, if lying would make the teen a bit more comfortable, Shikaku would certainly try.

He completely ignored the voice in the back of his head asking him why he didn't just let the teenager go with his sister.

"I offered to prepare a meal for Kiba in my home. Seeing us walking to my home together and him leaving it later on would certainly cause a stir, you see. I'm sure the Elders would agree that this is a good way to make up for the short amount of time we spent together during lunch."

Kiba's eyes shot open upon hearing this and Shikaku felt slightly ashamed. But it was one of the fastest thoughts that hit him.

When Hana turned to her brother, Kiba smiled and nodded. Shikaku took the chance to shrug apologetically at him before clearing his throat and grabbing Hana's attention once more.

"I was going to send a courier to relay the information, but I got distracted by work. If you'd like, I can call a messenger now." He motioned to grab at a blank scroll he could fill out.

Hana lifted her hand to stop him, "No need, Lord Nara. I'll head on over and tell them about your plans. I'm sure that they'll agree with your reasoning." She smiled, bowed curtly, and tried to wave goodbye at her brother.

Kiba made a point of immediately returning to his papers and avoiding any and all eye contact with Hana.

If the woman breathed out heavily in annoyance or disappointment, Shikaku could not definitively tell. But he knew that she sighed and left the office without trying to speak to her brother again.

Once the door had closed behind her, Kiba turned a sharp glare on him. But he didn't begin telling him off immediately. Instead the Inuzuka kept a cold glare fixed on him, a heavy frown marring his lips. From the couch, Akamaru whined and pawed at his ears, making Shikaku quirk an eyebrow at him in confusion. This certainly was odd behavior from both members of the Inuzuka clan.

"What-"

Kiba hissed so sharply that Shikaku immediately silenced himself.

The teenager continued to glare at him for whole seconds. Eventually, Shikaku got tired of getting glared down by the teen, so he returned to the work he had been focused on before their sudden visitor had arrived.

He didn't even notice Kiba stand up.

"Your house! Seriously? You've doomed me, Nara!"

One second, Kiba had been on the floor. The next he was fuming over his desk, arms crossed sternly over his chest with a gaze so icy it may have frozen another, lesser, man.

Shikaku quirked an eyebrow up at the Inuzuka, "It was the fastest thing I could think of. And it happens to be serious enough that the Elders will most probably agree to it."

After a couple of seconds of thought, Kiba's face flashed from anger to realization, and, finally, to acceptance. Then he took a step back and murmured, "Sorry about lashing out at you... I know I shouldn't raise my voice at you, Lord Nara."

Shikaku had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"It's Shikaku. And you had all the reason to lash out. It was rather sudden to say such a thing."

He hated when Kiba got like this. He much preferred it when Kiba acted _naturally_ around him.

... Maybe... If he talked with Hana, maybe then Shikaku would be able to gain some ground on just why Kiba switched attitude around him so quickly...

"Well then, guess we're going to your place tonight."

Shikaku shook off the feeling that Kiba's voice was filled with fear rather than anxiety as he returned to his work yet again.

* * *

When Kiba walked into Shikaku's home this time around, he didn't feel like a complete invader. He didn't feel like a welcome guest either, but at least he wasn't worried about Shikaku possibly becoming angered at him for entering his domain without his permission.

It was kind of nice... When he looked over the house and actually took note of the decorations and furniture, he could see that everything was in its place and it all came together to form a peaceful and open sort of harmony. Somehow, he found it hard to believe that either Shikamaru or Shikaku had come up with this form of arranging things...

Yoshino Nara was dead. Shikaku's wife and Shikamaru's mother had been killed by a group of people Konoha still knew nothing about. She had joined some of his clansmen in their deaths.

... Hadn't Shikaku said something about his own marriage to Yoshino having been arranged at first?

"Come on."

Shikaku speaking up broke him out of his thoughts.

Kiba followed the older male to his kitchen and sat himself down by the island, all the while Shikaku busied himself by grabbing the ingredients to make a meal.

They hadn't really talked on the way here, so Kiba hadn't been able to thank him for the split-second decision, but the Inuzuka had come to the conclusion that coming here really was in his best interest.

He didn't want to go back to the Compound. Undoubtedly, the Elders were going to scold him for uncouth behavior and make him return the money he had won. And, once they were done with that, they would undoubtedly force him to attend even _more_ of those stupid husband-rearing sessions they so loved. So Shikaku had seriously saved him from them by deciding to allow him to come into his home.

The only problem was that being inside of Shikaku Nara's home was still incredibly terrifying for him.

What if he accidentally pissed the man off? It was only the both of them in here, so there was no one Kiba could call for if anything went wrong. The only people near them were a way's away and they were Shikaku's _Clan Members_. He highly doubted that they'd aid him in any way if he screwed up... He had walked into a very dangerous place simply to be able to avoid having to see his Elders and get scolded by them again.

... He had never been known to make _great_ decisions before.

Shikamaru wasn't even anywhere near them, so Kiba couldn't even begin to hope for his help.

Sure, Akamaru was resting by the door, but it just wouldn't look right if Akamaru stepped in to help him if Shikaku tried anything... This was all so unnecessarily complicated!

"Here. Give Akamaru some water."

Kiba blinked when he suddenly found a bowl filled with water in his hands. Then he was able to see Shikaku walking away from him and toward the stove, a skillet already placed on it.

Sometimes, it was hard to remember that Shikaku seemed to be a pretty pleasant guy. His Elders were all so determined to make him fear his future husband...

For a second, he just stared at the man's back as he moved around the kitchen. Then he walked over to Akamaru, patted him on the head, and placed the bowl of water on the ground. His best friend lifted his head and looked at him, a dozen emotions flashing through his eyes in only a matter of seconds.

"You deserve better than this, bud..." Kiba sighed softly, running his hands over the much too soft fur.

He wasn't the only one suffering because of all of this... _That_ was also hard to remember at times.

"But don't worry, we'll be able to go on a mission soon enough."

The dog huffed, although with a bit more energy than what had been usual for the past few days.

"We just have to be patient."

When he returned to the kitchen, it was to find nothing but horror.

He couldn't stop himself. Kiba rushed over to Shikaku's side, a sinking feeling coming over his stomach as the smell of _burnt_ entered his nostrils.

Shikaku just glared at the pieces of bacon he had just burned.

For a moment, neither said anything. Kiba lamented the perfectly good pieces of bacon that had just been wasted, all the while Shikaku remained almost completely motionless in front of his stove. Then the Nara was breathing out and stepping away, all the while he shook his head softly.

"Alright. It seems that my cooking skills have not gotten any better." The man spoke aloud, then muttered in a quieter voice, "Yoshino was extremely wrong. Lessons and practice just aren't enough for those that are ungifted."

To Kiba, it was unbelievably weird to see that Shikaku had failed at doing something.

Wasn't the Nara Clan supposed to be proficient and successful in everything they did?

"Uh…" The teenager couldn't help but murmur, then cocked his head to the side, "Are you alright?"

The man 'hn'ed' in acknowledgment, then turned to look over at the teenager. "It seems that I will not be able to prepare a meal for us."

Kiba knew that, normally, he would have jumped at a chance to poke a bit of fun at Shikaku. But he was a bit too stunned by finding out the man wasn't good at something to actually even notice the beautiful opportunity before him.

Then a small thought formed in the back of his head. The teenager tried to push it away, but it persisted until finally the Inuzuka decided to voice it out.

"I… Uh… I don't mind cooking, Shikaku. I'm actually pretty good at it."

A blush began to creep up on his neck and fought to try and get up to his cheeks. But Kiba managed to push it down far enough so that Shikaku was not able to see him as flustered as he truly was.

The older male turned to him with a quirked eyebrow and narrowed eyes, but soon asked, "Are you sure? We could just go out and buy something."

"I'm used to cooking for myself." The teenager admitted with a shrug, "With ma always away and sis always working, I kind of had to learn."

The man's dark eyes scrutinized him for a moment before he stepped to the side, motioning to the stove with his hands. "Be my guest if you want, kid."

Kiba smiled lopsidedly and took in all of the ingredients the Nara had laid out. Excluding the much-too-burnt bacon, there were still quite a few strips left untouched. Then there was a carton of eggs laid out, meaning that the breakfast was supposed to simple and lacking any kind of flair.

He found it interesting that Shikaku had pulled ingredients typically used for _breakfast_ to eat so late at night, but he didn't question it. They were pretty simple to cook- the man had most probably picked them out because of how simple they were to prepare and how relatively fast they cooked.

"Yeah, I can work with this." Kiba looked back at Shikaku and couldn't help but prod, "Seems I've finally found your one weakness, Nara."

In the back of his mind, Kiba could hear the voice of one of the Elders' congratulating him on being able to please his soon-to-be-husband. As the submissive in the relationship, he was to keep his alpha sated. And one of the easiest and most obvious ways to do that was by feeding him.

But Kiba pushed that thought out of his thoughts as soon as it came up and focused on preparing the food before he became too sick to eat himself.

* * *

Shikaku huffed at the cheeky observation, "No one's perfect, Inuzuka."

He made his way over to the island and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest as he began to hear Kiba move around and prepare the food. Eventually wonderful smells began to fill his kitchen, making him feel a pang of painful nostalgia.

It had been a while since his kitchen had been used for actual _cooking_. Neither he nor Shikamaru were particularly good at the skill, so they relied on eating out most of the times. Sometimes Chouji and Ino would come around and cook for them, or Chouza and Chouji... But they had all been busy recently.

Yoshino had loved this kitchen. She had designed a better part of it, after all... Just like with the rest of the house. She would constantly grouch that the only reason she cooked for her useless husband and lazy son was simply because she liked the kitchen too much to allow them to ruin it.

... She was gone.

Shikaku sighed and opened his eyes just in time to find Kiba turning off the stove.

Soon enough, he found the Inuzuka teen offering him a simple plate of bacon and eggs. They were both perfectly cooked and, if he was being honest, the eggs were just the way he enjoyed them. The yolk wasn't overly runny, nor was it too tough.

They sat down to eat at the counter, eating one beside the other in silence. It wasn't bad, in Shikaku's mind. But the man was more than aware that the kid didn't like these kinds of long, silent pauses.

And, quite frankly, they just weren't normal for him anymore. At least, not when Kiba was around.

"This is really good, kid."

For a moment, Kiba remained quiet. That worried Shikaku, so the man turned to look at him... Only to find a rather broad grin on his lips.

"Delicious, I know... You like it, right?"

Shikaku scoffed as a smile began to play on his own lips.

"It's really delicious." He answered honestly, then asked, "You learn how to cook like this on your own?"

That large grin remained on Kiba's lips for a second longer. But soon that smile calmed, became more composed, "In a way. When you don't have any close family members around to feed you, either you learn from the people willing to teach or you starve. We lived really close to one of my cousin's grandmas a couple of years back, and when she saw that I didn't get that much food, she decided to force me to learn to cook to not die."

Shikaku stood up from the counter to walk towards the refrigerator, "I wouldn't have taken you for a person that would like to cook."

There was a beat of silence in which Kiba said nothing that made the man worry if he had said the wrong thing. But then the kid was speaking up as if everything was fine. "Not many would... Hey... Think I can get some water?"

"Sure thing, kid." He didn't even turn around to look at Kiba as he answered, grabbing cups so he could serve drinks for the both of them.

There was no reason for Kiba to even be the slightest bit nervous. But Shikaku knew by the slight quiver in his voice that he actually was. Which was a shame because there really was no reason for him to be so worried around him. Not anymore. Especially not after everything they had done together recently.

"So, you said that you didn't get much food. I'm guessing that means your family has always been the busy kind?" He asked from the refrigerator, earning a grunt as the beginning of his answer.

"My parents were always busy and Hana didn't actually like me when we were kids... She would always come up with the lamest excuses to stay out of the house until my parents got back."

Shikaku's heart clenched at this.

So Kiba's family troubles were not recent news.

He finished serving up two glasses of water and made his way back to Kiba.

"Here you go." The man muttered softly as he placed one cup of water in front of the teenager then sat himself down once more.

The Inuzuka grabbed his cup with a sad smile, "Thanks."

Shikaku sighed and kicked himself mentally.

Family was a sore subject for the kid. He shouldn't have asked... But, then again, if he didn't ask, he'd never get to know just why Kiba acted the way he did sometimes.

What was more important: gathering information or keeping Kiba's comfort levels stable?

If he never questioned, then he'd never learn anything. And if he never learned anything, then he certainly would never be able to understand just why Kiba became so meek around him at times. He would never have all of the pieces of the puzzle that was Kiba Inuzuka- he'd never be able to put them in their places to finally _understand_.

But if he prodded too much, he would alienate Kiba. And, from what he knew, Kiba didn't have that many people he considered as allies anymore. Even though Shikaku was a shaky ally, he was an ally nonetheless. If he pushed too much, then Kiba may begin to consider him as yet another enemy. And that was the last thing he needed... Or _wanted_.

The rest of their small meal passed by in a quiet manner. Shikaku was too busy worrying over the puzzle that had been laid down in front of him. And he was sure that Kiba himself had his own thoughts eating away at him, keeping him from trying to start up a conversation with his promised.

The only reason why their silence broke was because of the second occupant of his home making his entrance known. Shikamaru opened the front door with a heavy groan and hushed mutters of slight annoyance.

As soon as Shikaku heard Shikamaru walking about, he knew that Kiba would regret spending time with him in his home. But it wasn't as if he could ban Shikamaru from entering his kitchen, or from finding out that Kiba was there with them. That would make absolutely no sense and would make his son begin to worry. Instead, the man merely took a sip of his drink and looked over at the Inuzuka, "Would you mind making some food for Shikamaru?"

Kiba's eyes were wide as he looked at Shikaku. Then he composed himself and nodded, although his movements were stiff as he made his way back to the stove to make food.

"Hey, dad, sorry about getting home so late. The Rookies met up to celebrate some things and they wanted to stay for a while to gossip and you know how insufferable the harpy can- Kiba?"

When Shikaku turned around, it was to find his son completely frozen in the kitchen doorway, eyes wide in pure shock.

Kiba merely offered a small, "Hey, Shika."

Shikaku wanted nothing more than to be able to leave the room and avoid the subsequent string of questions Shikamaru would undoubtedly have for them.

So very troublesome...

..~..~..

I was finally able to update! I'm so happy for this guys, like you have no idea how much I've missed being able to write whenever I want.

I still don't have a stable computer, so update will continue to be sporadic. But I am still working on getting my laptop fixed.

Please remember to review and tell me what you thought!


	18. Chapter 18

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult. And some more angst. Friends are kind of extreme jerks, really, and they don't even notice it. Did I, by any chance, say angst already? Mentions of alcohol and technically underage alcohol consumption.

~..~..~

"So... I'm... Uh... Making breakfast for-for dinner. Ju-Just in case you'd like some... Shika."

 _Fuck._

How could he have forgotten that Shikamaru lived in the same house as Shikaku? How could this rather big detail have been completely over-looked by his worry filled thoughts? He had managed to freak out over being with _Shikaku_ in the house and about the way he could please his soon to be alpha by cooking for him, but he had somehow _completely_ forgotten about the friend that happened to be his betrothed's son? Just what in the world was _wrong_ with him?

"Kiba? What are you doing here?"

… … _Fuck_.

Did he suddenly forget how to talk? Hadn't he been talking a couple of seconds ago? What was _wrong_ with him?!

"I… I am…" _Great_. Just _great_. He wasn't able to speak correctly because of a simple little surprise. "I'm... Uh..."

He craned his neck to look at Shikaku, earning a quirked eyebrow as his first response.

His eyebrows rose and the corner of his lips curved down as Kiba's subsequent response to the rather unhelpful action Shikaku had chosen. The extreme expression seemed to gain the man's understanding, seeing how he soon sighed and grabbed his son's attention by clearing his throat. "I offered to make some food for him. Work ran late and I wanted to make up for keeping him busy by feeding him."

Shikamaru frowned, "You can't cook, dad."

"Yeah, yeah." Shikaku waved the comment off, but Kiba couldn't stop himself from smiling at the teenage Nara's deadpan. It seemed that Shikaku had a reputation for wanton destruction in the kitchen. "How come you're such a brat whenever I say something that has to do with me trying to cook?"

"Because you're a danger to yourself and others whenever you try."

Kiba sighed softly as he finished up what he was cooking for Shikamaru, content to believe that his friend was too focused on his father to even think about asking him anything else. The banter between father and son was slightly amusing, although, also, kind of worrisome. Shikamaru didn't seem to have any problem with calling his _father_ out on shit he did wrong... Which was something he _seriously_ wasn't accustomed to.

How could a _chunin_ talk back to a _Jounin Commander_? Much less his _father_?

Kiba had always known that people outside of his Clan could be pretty weird. But he had also seen how respectful most of his friends were towards their parents... Shikamaru had never been the kind to blindly listen to anyone, but this kind of criticism went just a bit too far for Kiba to actually feel comfortable.

They were so busy with each other that the Inuzuka believed he was freed from any questions. He was proven wrong when he began to plate the food.

As he finished serving up the bacon he had cooked to perfection (in his own, humble, opinion, of course), he heard Shikamaru pointedly say, "I thought Akamaru needed to get a bath. But he looks the same as when you two left."

Shit...

With a forced smile, Kiba finished serving the food and turned to the teenage Nara. "Not gonna lie, Shika. I lied to you guys... I didn't notice how late it was until I got to the ramen place. I had promised your dad we'd work some more after lunch, but didn't want you guys to keep me too long with questions."

Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow at this, "So you lied about that... Just because you're helping my dad out?"

Kiba forced himself to breathe in deeply and _not_ freak out as he placed the plate of food on the island table, then motioned for Shikamaru to sit down.

"Yup."

The teenage Nara sat down, a frown heavy on his lips. "Then why didn't you lie about drinking with them? That also got you questions... And they weren't even that many."

Kiba looked at Shikaku for help yet again. Shikamaru was too good and his brain was too frazzled!

"Probably because his lips were looser because of the alcohol." Shikaku breathed out and motioned at the plate, "Now stop harassing my guest and eat. It's much better than anything I could have come up with."

Kiba breathed out in relief as Shikamaru began to eat, then busied himself by picking up the plates, utensils, and cups used by him and Shikaku to eat. Then he began to wash them, not even thinking about it before he started up the sink.

It was when he heard Shikaku question him that he noticed that maybe he had gone too far too soon and gone past Shikaku's zone of comfort.

"What are you doing Kiba?"

"Just..." He stalled for a moment, then shrugged noncommitally, "Washing up; nothing big."

"You're a guest in my home. You cooked. You don't have to do that too."

He heard Shikaku's chair scrape softly against the floor and turned with a smile, "It's not a problem. I _did_ eat your food."

Shikaku frowned at him, but allowed it. He didn't say anything but sat himself back down and offered him a stiff nod. Kiba nodded back at him, then chanced a glance at Shikamaru... And regretted it.

His friend's eyes were fixed solely on him. And within those eyes, Kiba could clearly see the wheels within his brain turning.

Kiba quickly washed everything up, dried his hands, and moved to leave the kitchen with a rushed, "Well, goodnight you two."

"Kiba."

Shikamaru calling out to him stopped him.

"Y-yeah?"

Shikamaru's face was completely devoid of emotions when Kiba looked at him. "One last question."

"Yeah?"

Shikamaru stared at him in silence for a couple of seconds, making Kiba fidget and grow more and more uncomfortable as the time passed. Then, with a smile that was much too warm, "You're aware that this is actually really good?"

Kiba gulped- just what was Shikamaru planning?

"T-Thanks."

He nodded, then turned back to his food, "Thank you for saving me from my dad's burnt stuff."

He wasn't a thousand percent sure if Shikamaru was being honest with the compliment. But he didn't contemplate the honesty of the statement.

Instead he nodded stiffly, offered a final goodbye, and ran like hell. He barely even remembered to call for Akamaru to follow him before he took off into the forest from how much he wanted to get out of there.

* * *

Cooking was one thing. But cleaning up too? That certainly wasn't very normal... At least, not when it came to the usual Inuzuka members Shikaku had met.

He didn't like it when Kiba changed from his usual proud way of being. It wasn't right. And he just could not understand why the teenager was so quick to change when _he_ was around.

The scarred man couldn't help but sigh softly once his home's door had closed behind Akamaru and Kiba. The teenager wasn't a bad person, nor was he as annoying or tiring as other people Shikaku had been unfortunate enough to meet. But it was proving to be a cumbersome task trying to make sense of what he saw of the Inuzuka with what he had thought was supposed to be normal.

Well, it was about time he was finally able to get some much deserved-

"So, dad, Kiba's been helping you out a lot around the office, hasn't he?"

The man stopped himself just before he groaned in displeasure at his son deciding to strike up a conversation. He wasn't usually the chatty kind- undoubtedly he was asking questions strictly to find out the answers to them.

"He has." The man offered as he stood up and began to walk out of the kitchen.

Shikaku knew what his son was trying to do. It was rather obvious, really, but he wasn't about to point it out. He had done the same thing on various occassions and would undoubtedly continue to do it for as long as he lived. Hell, he was even _trying_ to do it to find out more information on the Inuzuka Clan to try and understand Kiba's... _eccentricities._

"For how long?"

Shikaku was already outside of the kitchen and on the way to his room when he heard this. He stopped for a moment, shook his head regretfully, and called back, "A while."

If he was closer to his son, he was sure he'd see him wince in irritation. Because he was so far, he was not able to do such a thing. But he did decide to cut off any other chances at a conversation he did not want to have so late at night. He'd much rather get a good sleep and deal with his son's curiosity when he wasn't feeling so tired.

"Good night, son. Remember to lock up."

There was no answer from Shikamaru.

He knew that this meant his son understood there would be no chances at finding anything else out for the night.

* * *

He didn't like this.

He wouldn't allow it.

And he knew just what strings to pull to get his way.

"Please. Minato-sensei, you've gotta trust me on this."

His old teacher was currently swirling a cup of tea, looking extremely tired while dressed in the frog-print pajamas he and Naruto had bought for his birthday two years ago. They had gifted him a set with fox designs on it a year ago. And they were currently thinking up of what other cute animal print pajamas they could buy for this year.

But the last thing on his mind at the moment was what to get his old teacher for his birthday.

"I trust you. But I also trust Shikaku, Kakashi. He asked to run this mission and for Kiba and Akamaru to make up his squad. It's a simple assassination..." The blonde man took a pause to yawn, smack his lips together, and then murmur out, "There's nothing wrong with that."

Was there nothing wrong with Shikaku Nara's sudden interest in Kiba Inuzuka?

Probably. He was a trusted man for a reason- he deserved the benefit of the doubt in most cases. He had proven his grit on and off the battlefield on many occassions.

Was there enough oddity surrounding said sudden interest to make Kakashi justified in his worries?

Of course. Things didn't add up when he really looked at them. And when he focused _solely_ on Kiba, he could tell that there was something _very wrong_. Inuzuka didn't choose to be around non-Clan Members unless absolutely necessary- it was much more characteristic to see them lounging around their compound than in some boring office.

Would he find out as much as he could about why Kiba was suddenly never around and ditching his friends and _Naruto_ to instead spend time with a very capable yet very Nara (boring) Jounin Commander?

Yes. And there was nothing that would stop him from figuring out what had happened to distance Kiba from his pack in such a short amount of time.

"Kiba's never taken part in any kind of assassination. You know that. It's not right for him to take such a big step in his career without proper backup."

"You know, there was a time when assassinations were handed off to mere genin." Minato sighed sardonically, making Kakashi roll his eyes at him.

"You're just cranky because I woke you up."

Minato frowned at him and offered a glare that had never managed to stir anything other than amusement in Kakashi.

The younger male leaned back against the dining room chair. "Come on. Kiba should have someone that knows him when he takes a life. Their generation wasn't raised like yours or mine. Killing someone is actually something that they haven't actually been prepared for- no matter what you might like."

Assassinations were an integral part of ninja life. It wasn't some dirty secret because everyone knew this. But they had miscalculated with this specific generation of ninja: The teachers in the Academy had taught the kids about assassinations as if it were a story only completed by adults and, when they had been genin, most of the teachers had just kind of pushed that aspect of life to the side.

Team 7 had never been blinded to this because the Hatake Clan had always prided itself on honesty and loyalty. Kakashi wasn't about to set his team up for failure in the battlefield.

But Team 8 had not had this luxury. Yes, they knew assassinations were a part of life, but Kurenai had not enforced this reality as much as Kakashi had. So now Kiba had taken on one of the most brutal and emotionally draining kind of job any shinobi could get and Kakashi was sure he wasn't even aware of how heavy of a mission it was.

"Are you fighting so hard for Kiba because Team 7 is too busy for you?" Minato questioned curiously, earning a huff from his old student.

"Kiba's pack. Just like Naruto. Something's wrong and I want to know what it is."

Minato himself had admitted that Kiba had been acting off lately. So Kakashi just could not understand why it was that he wouldn't allow him this _small_ abuse of power and kick Shikaku off of the mission so he could take his place. If he got some alone time with the kid, he just _knew_ he would be able to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Both men remained in suspended silence for a couple of seconds. Minato breathed in and closed his eyes. Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and straightened up in his seat.

"Alright. I'm going to give you permission to ask Shikaku to take his place. If he agrees, I see no problem in having you run the mission."

Kakashi smiled, proud of himself. "Thank you, Minato-sensei."

* * *

He had been on his way to Shikaku's office when a wild Kotetsu appeared out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground.

Kiba yelled out as he was sent flying backwards, a rather heavy and solid body right on top of him. And when he finally impacted against the floor, it was with a giggling Kotetsu crushing his ribs.

"Get off of me, fat-ass!"

"Bup-bup, Inuzuka. Is that the way you treat a guy after you stand him up?"

Kiba's brain tried to grasp at straws as soon as he heard this.

As he struggled to think, Kotetsu pushed himself up on his hands, which were on either side of Kiba's head. Kiba was sure that, if anyone were to see them, they would be found in a rather provocative positionk- were Kotetsu's legs straddling him? Eh, whatever. It was really early in the morning and he had taken a road by the outskirts of Konoha just for the scenery- barely anyone would be walking around.

Eventually Kiba was able to connect the dots.

And a wave of guilt came crashing over him.

"Was that yesterday? Shit, Ko. I forgot!"

Kotetsu stared down at him with an extremely serious frown on his face... A frown that slowly gave way to a small smile... Which, in turn, eventually cracked into a full on laugh.

The older chunin's raucous laughter soon began to fill up the relative silence of the forest around them, breaking up the peace.

"Kotetsu! What the hell?!"

Kiba shoved at the man and pushed him off to the side, leaving him to fall onto his ribs even as he continued to laugh as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "You're a jerk, you know that, right?"

The man continued to laugh.

Knowing that this would take a while, Kiba rolled his eyes and pushed himself off of the ground. He then dusted himself off, made sure there wasn't much dirt on his clothes, and crossed his arms to look at Kotetsu with a _very_ judgemental glare.

As this all happened, Kotetsu kicked at the air and clutched at his stomach in pure glee. He was so clearly happy with the shitty prank he had just pulled that he hadn't even stopped to catch his breath. He took his sweet time laughing like a buffoon, unfortunately.

Once Kotetsu calmed down, the man sat up on the floor with his legs crossed and smiled broadly over at the Inuzuka he had just fooled. "Sorry, kid, but you've been so out of it recently that I wanted to see just how bad your sense of time was."

Kiba rolled his eyes, "Yesterday was a long day, you jerk. And here I was worried that I had accidentally stood you up."

"Well you didn't."

There was a second of silence that Kotetsu took to sober up, the smile on his face fading a bit. Then he sighed, pushed himself off the ground, and walked over to Kiba, "Kid, you know you can talk to me about anything, right? I know that I'm not old enough to be a father or anything, but I like to think that you're kind of like a little brother I never had."

Kiba found the corner of his lips curving upwards without his consent upon hearing this.

It had been a while since anyone had just _been there_ for him. Shikaku didn't count because the man had been forced into Kiba's life. Kotetsu was the only person at the moment that didn't have a _reason_ to care about Kiba but still did. The Inuzuka couldn't say such a thing about any of his other friends.

"I know, Ko." He answered levelly, "Yesterday was just eventful. Nothing bad with that."

A mischievous glint appeared in the man's dark eyes, "Well, I would imagine it was. A little bird informed me about your escapade over at the Hidden Drink. And how you managed to gain quite a bit of cash from drunken idiots."

His blood ran cold.

Kotetsu had heard about what had happened yesterday. That meant that he had heard about how he had been sitting at the same table as Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka. That meant that the rumors about them were beginning to reach a fast rate of dispersal.

"Uh... Y-yeah." He coughed for a moment, caught his breath, and forced a smile onto his lips. "Drunken ninja are more predisposed to unnecessary challenges. I merely cashed in on their lack of judgement."

Kotetsu laughed, wrapped an arm around both his shoulders, and began to walk them in the same direction Kiba had been heading down before he had appeared. "You're a riot, kid. So next time we go out- after lunch today, of course- we're going for drinks. And you're going to show me just how you were able to beat _Raidou Namiashi_ at arm wrestling!"

Kiba laughed softly at this and allowed Kotetsu to take the lead. He was much too focused at the moment on worrying about what was being said about him in the rumor mill to care too much about where the older man was taking him.

Shikamaru had seen him at his house cooking for his father and then cleaning up. A great chunk of the adult Shinobi in the Village already knew about how he had been seen in a bar with Shikaku and Inoichi.

It was only a matter of time before they officially came out as a couple. And, after that, there would be very little time left before he was married to Shikaku and shipped off to the Nara home.

 _Fuck_.

* * *

Shikaku reached his office in time to find Kiba already spread out on the carpet, a smattering of documents all around him. It wasn't weird to find Kiba at the office once he arrived, even though Shikaku still had no idea how the teenager managed to get in without picking any locks; only he and Inoichi had keys to the office and Shikaku was very sure he had never given a copy to the teenager... Maybe he should...

"Good morning." The man murmured as he made his way towards his desk, careful to not accidentally step on any of the papers Kiba had left around the office.

By the end of the day, everything that was currently out of place would be neatly stacked and filed away to not bother anyone ever again. For now, though, they were hazards and Shikaku was sure that Kiba wasn't aware of this small fact.

"Mornin'." The kid mumbled, chewed at his thumb for a moment, then looked over at Shikaku.

The Nara sat down with a small groan as his joints creaked and popped. He was too old to be getting up so early just to go to an office and sit around for most of the day... Especially considering how today's breakfast of bread and butter seemed unjustly bland after the delicious meal Kiba had made for him last night.

"Have you... Have you heard anything?"

Shikaku quirked an eyebrow over at the Inuzuka, for a moment confused as to just what exactly the teenager meant. But after a couple of seconds of thinking, his mind caught up to what he assumed Kiba had meant. He was about to answer when there was a knock on his door.

Already accustomed to random visitors, Kiba went back to his work while Shikaku tended to whoever it was that had decided to bother him so early in the morning.

"It's open." He called, beginning to pull out all of the documents he would have to work on today to make sure that they were actually caught up on paperwork for the first time in months.

The door creaked open and in stepped a familiar chakra presence. But when the ninja that had come to his office spoke up, it wasn't directed at Shikaku.

"An Inuzuka actually doing paperwork? My, my, this is quite a sight to behold." Kakashi's easy drawl filled up the room in a rather slow pace, each letter taking its time to form up a word.

Shikaku had not thought that he would ever meet someone as lazy as him that did not carry the Nara name. But Kakashi Hatake was rumored to rival even his clan's legendary aversion to the use of energy. Personally, he had never seen Kakashi be anything less than a stellar ninja. But he did not spend much time around the man. And he did not want to at this point- Kakashi was much too smart for his own good.

Kiba growled softly, but there was an almost playful glint in his eyes when he waved his hand at Kakashi, "My, my, a Hatake walking around the Village before noon. I wonder who chewed your ass out and kicked it into motion this time, Kakashi."

The Inuzuka whole heartedly believed that Kakashi was a threat to their Clans' best laid plans. Shikaku would not put it past Kakashi to be a protective individual that was capable of figuring the mystery out if he really cared as much about Kiba as he cared about Naruto. The Hatake had once been known as one of the most dangerous Clans in the Village because of how much weight they gave to their relationships and how important they felt was the need to keep their loved ones safe.

Shikaku did not question Kakashi's intentions at the moment. He knew that the man was here simply to gather information.

How he planned to acquire that information, though, was what had Shikaku at a loss.

Kakashi huffed a small, humorless laugh. Shikaku looked at him, only to find that his eyes were wholly focused on the Inuzuka, even though Kiba made a point of keeping his own gaze on the papers he had been working with before Shikaku had arrived.

"No one had to threaten me this time, kid. I'm actually here to talk with Lord Nara."

Now Kiba looked at Kakashi, giving him a look that was a cross between an exasperated glare and a disbelieving frown. Shikaku hummed in acknowledgement, making the Hatake turn to him with his only visible eye closed in forced friendliness.

"I need to have a word with you. Lunch?"

A man of few words... And clear investigational purposes.

Shikaku pondered on the single-word question for a moment.

Kakashi Hatake was close to Kiba. He had forgotten during his drunken haze that Kiba had told him that Kakashi did consider him to be an important kid in his life- almost on par with Naruto Uzumaki himself. There were ties between the last Hatake and the whole of the Inuzuka Clan and that meant that Kakashi would know information about them that no one else would.

He could use Kakashi for this very information.

Hmm... He could give Kakashi a bone of information; the barest thread of what he would need to know about his and Kiba's evolving relationship without giving too much away; and Shikaku could be able to get the man to explain to him some of the intricacies and eccentricities of the Inuzuka Clan.

"I don't have any plans." Shikaku murmured lazily, beginning to reach for a pen so he could begin to work. He needed to seem as nonchalant and disinterested as he could to not have either of his visitors begin to worry.

Kiba, undoubtedly, would not be happy with such a meeting. But Shikaku was more than aware that Kakashi, at the moment, was his best bet to understand the teenager.

"Great. Meet me at the Korean BBQ place Team 10 loves at twelve."

Shikaku nodded and began to work, leaving Kakashi to bid Kiba farewell without any interruptions.

Once the Hatake was gone, he heard Kiba groan loudly.

"It's a power play, kid."

Kiba huffed and Shikaku looked at him just in time to see him cross his arms over his chest and close his eyes. "He's going to ask about us, Shikaku. He's going to interrogate you until he finds out about our... _predicament_."

"I'm aware." Shikaku stood up and walked over to Kiba, then crouched down so he was right in front of Kiba, at eye-level with him. "Kiba, look at me."

The teenager took a couple of seconds, but he soon opened his eyes and looked at Shikaku. The Nara was able to see the worry and fear swimming within those dark eyes and he couldn't help but feel bad.

"I'm going to play him. Don't worry... But, I will need your permission for _one_ thing."

A plan was formulating in his mind as he spoke with the Inuzuka. It was a good one, if he said so himself; devious and manipulative to its very core. But it required him to say a couple of things that _may_ make Kiba uncomfortable. And he wasn't about to tell Kakashi such things without at least getting some kind of approval from the kid.

Kiba quirked an eyebrow at this, "You think it'll get him off our trail?"

Shikaku took some time to truly think about his options, came up with a conclusion, and finally nodded at Kiba. "I'm pretty sure that it'll completely knock him off of the arrangement and give him enough answers to feel content with what he knows."

The teenager looked down at his hands for a moment, then sighed and nodded. "Alright... I... I trust you, Shikaku."

This had Shikaku smiling softly- he wasn't sure just why, but it felt good to hear the kid admit such a thing.

"Good. I'll tell you how the lunch went once I'm back."

~/~

Kakashi was twenty minutes late to their lunch meeting. Shikaku was not shaken by this and instead enjoyed a quiet meal at the very back of the establishment.

As he ate in silence, Shikaku noticed that it had been a while since he had eaten by himself. Oftentimes, Kiba was in his office when he ate lunch. And if he did not eat there, Kiba was usually by his side when he went out.

Honestly, he was kind of disappointed that the rumor mill had not caught more speed when it came to their relationship. But, no matter, if everything went right today, the rumors they needed to spread would catch like wildfire.

"Ah, dessert already, Lord Nara?"

Kakashi pulled out the only other chair in the table with barely any speed to the movement. And he sat down with a heavy huff, closing his eye for a couple of seconds before looking at Shikaku once more.

The Nara had to admit, Kakashi was putting up an excellent show of seeming relaxed and disinterested in him. Unfortunately for him, Shikaku knew that Kakashi didn't go out of his way to meet with someone unless he _wanted_ something.

"I thought you wouldn't mind, seeing how I've already eaten." Shikaku shrugged softly before he set down his utensil and leaned back in his chair. "Well then, what did you need to talk to me about, Kakashi?"

Kakashi analyzed him for a couple of seconds before he too leaned back in his chair, hooked his right leg over his left knee, and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're going on an assassination mission with Kiba. I'm here to take that boring mission off your hands, seeing how my skillset in tracking is a bit more useful for it. And, of course, to offer Kiba a familiar face to accompany him on his first assassination."

 _Ah, so that was Kakashi's game_.

Shikaku nodded slowly, now having a much better understanding of why it was that Kakashi wanted to speak to him and what, precisely, he was most probably planning to do.

The mission was an assassination. Kiba had not said anything about the specifics, so Shikaku had not thought that it would bring up any problems. But it seemed that, at least in Kakashi's mind, there _was_.

It was a good excuse, honestly. Unfortunately for him, Shikaku saw straight through it. Kakashi just wanted to find a way to force Kiba to talk to him one-on-one. And there was no better way to do such a thing than to go on a week-long mission with the very person that was trying to avoid you.

"There's no need for such a generous offer, Kakashi." Shikaku smiled easily, "Kiba doesn't seem bothered at all to have me accompany him."

Kakashi Hatake had always been known as the kind of person that would do everything possible to run circles around a person without giving away his true intentions.

It seemed that Kiba Inuzuka was a truly important person in the man's life if he was willing to sidestep all the unnecessary games so quickly.

"What're you playing at, Nara?" Kakashi's composure shifted in a handful of seconds, going from forced relaxation to tense and confrontational. He sat up and squared his shoulders, glaring at Shikaku. "What could you possibly gain from alienating Kiba from his pack?"

Shikaku contemplated possible reactions for a second, then decided to feign innocence. "I gain nothing from such a thing, Kakashi. And I am not doing that... Well, at least not on purpose. But, I will admit, I have seen a change in Kiba that worries me."

Kakashi glared at him for a second, then murmured, "What do you mean?"

"I've only gotten to know Kiba recently because he has been a valuable help in my office." Shikaku sat up as well, making himself seem as worried and clueless as he was sure Kakashi was. "But there are some things he does now that worry me... I thought that Inuzuka were supposed to enjoy being around their family at all times. But Kiba would rather barricade himself within my office than spend any time with Tsume or Hana."

Shikaku was more than aware as to why Kiba was acting in such a manner. But he needed to perform flawlessly to fool Kakashi Hatake.

"Listen, I'm not going to lie, my intentions are somewhat selfish- but they're not malicious."

"Explain yourself, Nara."

Ah, Kakashi was back on the offensive... Just as he wanted it.

Shikaku shifted slightly, sighed, and looked away from Kakashi. He was making a show of looking around the eatery, making it clear that what he was about to say was not something that should be overheard by others. But he was also making sure that there were some people around that _might_ be able to hear what he would say, even though they would not be able to catch everything.

"I..." He sighed heavily, "I'm gay. I've known this for a while, but was married to Yoshino and so could not do much about it... But, I am a single man once again."

He was not able to finish saying what he was prepared to tell Kakashi before the man growled at him, "You can't be serious, Nara. You're twice his age!"

Shikaku leaned his chin on his right hand, looking towards his right while his index finger crooked over his top lip. Then he sighed, closed his eyes, and hunched his shoulders inwards.

"I am interested in Kiba Inuzuka, Kakashi. And I believe he reciprocates."

~..~..~

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please remember to read and review!

Also, great news, folks! I've got myself a brand new laptop! I lost a whole lot of work because my old was not salvageable, so that's bad... But I've got a new one and updates will become more regular! Hopefully...


	19. Chapter 19

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult. And some more angst. Friends are kind of extreme jerks, really, and they don't even notice it. Did I, by any chance, say angst already? Mentions of alcohol and technically underage alcohol consumption.

~..~..~

The fact that more than half of his face was covered certainly made Shikaku's attempts at reading Kakashi Hatake's emotions difficult. But there was an edge to his only visible eye and a tightness to his jaw that let the Nara know that he was not a necessarily happy camper at the moment. His whole body read of discomfort and annoyance, something that Shikaku had been completely expecting.

"Should I denounce you for abusing your administrative post now, or should I wait to hear you beg for me not to before I say anything?" Kakashi growled in a rather predictable manner.

It seems that Shikaku had been correct in assuming that Kiba mattered enough to Kakashi to make him less than composed when he was placed in a 'precarious' situation. This was rather great for the Nara. Kakashi was known for being able to maintain his cool in most situations. But it seemed that a lesser known fact was how difficult it was for him to maintain that cool when it came to those he loved.

"How about neither and we instead agree on a small wager?"

The Hatake's eyebrow quirked in curiosity and Shikaku knew he had the man right where he wanted him.

"You are clearly rather protective of Kiba and don't want me entering the picture. I am not about to give up on my feelings simply because you don't think I'm the correct kind of contender. This'll be a stalemate no matter what. At the end of the day, you're also someone important in Kiba's life and I don't want any unnecessary tension with those he loves. So, if we agree on a bet, of sorts, we can quickly put away any kind of conflict. You win, I give up."

Kakashi remained quiet for a couple of moments after Shikaku had spoken up, then asked, "And what, exactly, would you get if you were to win?"

He had the man right where he wanted him.

"Nothing too bad. Just for you to tell me a couple of things about the Inuzuka Clan I'm curious about."

Kakashi shifted in his chair and drummed the fingers on his right hand against the table, "If I win, you back off of Kiba and never try anything with him again? Is your word really that good, Nara?"

Shikaku nodded stiffly, looking Kakashi directly in his eyes. "My word is my bond. You can decide any further stipulations before agreeing, of course, but I am offering to never pursue a romantic relationship with Kiba if you were to win. I will still interact with him if he wishes to seek me out. But I will not be initiating anything."

The Hatake schooled his features to not show a single emotion, "What, exactly, will we be betting on?"

Even though the younger man was usually a rather composed individual, he was certainly being rather impulsive on this whole Kiba business. Which was perfect for Shikaku's needs.

"A small question, really. We ask Kiba who he would prefer to go on the mission with. If he says that he'd rather go with you, then you go with him and this is the last you hear about me wanting anything with or from him. But if he chooses me-" Shikaku shrugged softly, "Well, you already know what I'm after."

Kakashi's only visible eye narrowed. Then he leaned forward in his chair and offered Shikaku his hand. "Alright. You're on. _With_ the added stipulation that, if I win, you won't keep getting in the way of Kiba and his family. Purposefully or not, you're an obstruction."

The Nara frowned at the stipulation because Kakashi was so out of his depth when it came to Kiba that he actually believed Shikaku was a _problem_. Still, the Nara soon nodded and clasped his hand with Kakashi's own.

He trusted in Kiba. This was barely even a gamble for him.

* * *

He had been in the middle of a rather pleasant lunch with Kotetsu when two very known scents hit his nose. A couple of seconds after he had caught a whiff of the men's distinctive smells, he heard Kakashi calling out his name. And when Kiba glanced over the throngs of people in the barbeque place Kotetsu had taken him to, he found Shikaku and Kakashi walking over to him.

Kakashi looked worried, all the while Shikaku seemed mostly relaxed. The Nara's hands were inside his pockets and his stride was easy, but there was a harshness to his face Kiba couldn't ignore. Kakashi, in the meantime, was walking with a stride that was a bit quicker than was usual for him... He must have been trying to seem disinterested or relaxed, like Shikaku, but wasn't doing a good job of it.

"Interesting. What're those two doing here?" Kotetsu asked as he looked over Kiba's head from the other side of the table.

The Inuzuka shrugged with a noncommittal hum of confusion. "I was working with Shikaku today when Kakashi asked to meet him for lunch... But I don't know what they're doing here."

They had been sitting in a booth by the farthest corners of the restaurant, so both males had to walk through quite a few people to get to them. But, once they were in front of the table, Kakashi forced himself into the booth beside Kiba and eyed him _very closely_.

 _Shit_.

What was Kakashi thinking?

Kiba chanced one glance at Shikaku, only to find the man calmly asking Kotetsu if he could sit down beside him. Kotetsu agreed and made space for him, then looked over at Kiba, mouthing "What law did you break?".

Unimpressed by the suggestion, Kiba frowned at his friend.

He did not even spare any oxygen trying to answer _that_ particular Kotetsu-created question.

"Kiba. That mission you're going on- which one of us would you prefer to go with?" Shikaku questioned suddenly and was very successful in completely catching Kiba off guard.

"What?!" He choked out, eyes going wide as he looked at the Nara.

Just what was he playing at? He had known that he had decided to go to a rather extreme measure to throw Kakashi off of their clans' trails, but... Well... He honestly did not know what he had been expecting to come from Kakashi and Shikaku's meeting...

"Me or him?" Kakashi jabbed a thumb at himself and then at the Nara, only visible eye narrowed in determination.

Kiba wanted to smack Shikaku upside the head- just what in the world had he done to rile Kakashi up so much? This was the kind of guy that preferred to exude relaxation and complete disinterest everywhere he went. If he was looking as if he was prepared to jump on someone, it meant that something _bad_ had happened to get him worried. And, quite frankly, seeing Kakashi worried made Kiba himself begin to feel troubled over just what was going on.

"What are you two going on about?" The teenager questioned the men, keeping his gaze directly on Shikaku to get a direct answer from the older male.

He loved Kakashi. But he didn't trust him to give him a straight answer. He _did_ trust the Hatake to give him an answer that would only serve in confusing him even further. Or, honestly, the kind of answer that may even sway Kiba's decision in his favor without the Inuzuka actually noticing it.

"If you had a choice between Kakashi and I to go on the mission you're scheduled for, who would you like to go with you?" Shikaku elaborated, then smiled reassuringly. "Be honest. I won't be hurt."

Be honest? How was he supposed to be honest when they both knew that he didn't have any choice when it came to who he was to go on the mission with?

Well... Honestly... The answer wasn't all that hard...

Kiba looked away from Kakashi and Shikaku to really ponder on the question. He kept his gaze on the table before him, where mostly empty plates and cups had been left after he and Kotetsu had finished their meal.

He _liked_ being with Shikaku. And, quite frankly, he didn't want to go anywhere with Kakashi. The man was someone he loved very much, but he was also someone he didn't want to be around. He couldn't mess up when he was around the Hatake because he risked the wrath of the Clan Elders if he said the wrong thing. But he didn't have to worry about Shikaku... He could kind of be himself around the man... Well, not _completely_ himself, but much more of who he really was than what he should be around someone that wasn't supposed to know about the arranged marriage.

Even with the pressure of the Clan Elders weighing on him, though, it really wasn't too hard to be honest about his answer.

Shikaku Nara was a great man. He put up with a lot of Kiba's shit and had not once actually shown any sign of aggression towards him. He was level headed and calm. And he had been the one to think that this particular mission was a good one for him and Kiba to go on.

The mission was an assassination... Kiba had never gone through with one of those before. And, when he had been younger, he had wanted someone close to him to take him on his first assassination.

… Could he consider Shikaku to be close to him now?

Kakashi wasn't nearly as calm and collected as Shikaku. He tried to seem it and many people fell for the charade, but Kiba had known the Hatake for all his life. And if something went wrong with Kiba, the Inuzuka was very much sure that Kakashi would not react well.

Quite frankly, this was a losing battle on Kakashi's end, no matter which justification Kiba tried to find that said otherwise. He was a great man and an even greater ninja, but Kiba did not believe in his ability to keep his personal feelings from interfering with the mission. And if something were to happen to Kiba during the mission, the teenager was not sure just how Kakashi would react. But he _did_ know how Shikaku would- in only the most efficient and productive manner.

"Not gonna lie, I wanna go with you, Shikaku." Kiba murmured softly, feeling slightly guilty over the fact that he was able to give an honest answer that would undoubtedly hurt one of the few people that had been in his life for as long as he could remember.

The Hatake made a noise of disapproval, but Shikaku merely grunted with understanding.

"Well then, it seems that our plans are unchanged, Inuzuka. I'll see you back in the office once we have finished up. Kakashi?"

"Yeah."

Kiba quirked an eyebrow at how truly disgruntled Kakashi sounded, but wasn't able to question it. Both men left as quickly as they had arrived and soon Kiba was only left with Kotetsu.

A couple of seconds of silence passed over them until Kotetsu cleared his throat.

"That was some major tension between those two." The older male whistled, drawing Kiba's attention back to him. "Seriously; what'd you do to get two jounin fighting over you?"

Kiba frowned at his friend, poked at the leftovers of his food to do _something_ , "I don't know what's up with Kakashi. He's being weird for no reason- but, honestly, I think that's just him." Kiba sighed, remembering all the times during his childhood where Kakashi had shown a very clear lack of calm and collectedness whenever he or Naruto got into trouble. "Shikaku kind of promised to take me on a mission."

"And you'd rather go with that Nara bore than with your good buddy, the Hatake?" Kotetsu seemed truly intrigued by this, "Why?"

Kiba shrugged noncommittally, "I guess I like Shikaku a bit more... At least when it comes to going on an actual mission. Kakashi's great an' all... But... Well... I guess I just don't trust him as much for the mission."

Kotetsu quirked an eyebrow at him, then smirked at his younger friend. "Oh... So _that's_ what's going on here?"

The Inuzuka's immediate response was to frown at his friend. Then he rolled his eyes and decided that the question that had just been asked was yet another one that was not worthy of an actual answer from him. He didn't know just what in the world was running through Kotetsu's brain at the moment, but he was more than sure that he did not want to know about it. Nope. He'd rather stay ignorant to whatever darkness was in control within the chunin's brain.

"Anyway, now that we're on the topic of gossip and extremely private questions- why don't you tell me why your best friend despises me?" Kiba decided to change the topic of the conversation and glanced up ar Kotetsu to look him in the eyes.

"Best friend?" Kotetsu was confused for a quick moment, then snapped his fingers and gasped in sudden enlightenment. "Oh! Izumo, you mean! He doesn't hate you. He just doesn't approve of how close we are considering how I'm supposed to be dating him or whatever."

Kiba's eyes bulged before he could properly control his reaction.

"What? Kotetsu!"

"What?! What'd I do wrong?"

Now it all made sense! Izumo had caught them being _extremely_ comfortable with one another on more than just one time. If he thought that Kiba was trying to hustle in on his man... Oh, shit, now it really made all the sense.

"You idiot! Izumo's your boyfriend!"

Kotetsu blinked at him for a moment, then shrugged, "And?"

Kiba threw his pair of chopsticks at the idiot and shook his head. "I cannot believe you don't get what I'm trying to tell you." With this, the Inuzuka crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from Kotetsu. "Know what? I ain't dealing with this. Izumo's the poor soul that's stuck with because he chose you for some reason."

"Hey, just what's that supposed to mean?" Kotetsu seemed insulted and Kiba felt validated for that.

He couldn't believe this... Kotetsu was an idiot and Izumo had chosen a horrible boyfriend.

But at least now he understood why he received those death glares whenever Izumo saw him around his idiot of a boyfriend. Kotetsu had no idea how far his physical affection could get sometimes. Kiba didn't mind because he actually sort of liked it and was more than used to it because of his own Clan's ways of dealing with such a thing. But if Izumo wasn't accustomed to seeing friends being so touchy around each other and suddenly saw Kotetsu being like that with some random Inuzuka...

Granted, Kotetsu had always been the kind to hug everyone and touch a person he enjoyed being around at least twice during a conversation. If Izumo had known him for a while, then he must have been accustomed to this already...

Oh, whatever.

At least now he understood the death glares.

* * *

They returned to his office to discuss their small bet in privacy.

Shikaku was very much aware of Kakashi's troubled thoughts. The younger man was incredibly obvious about his lack of satisfaction when a situation spiraled out of his control. And this 'Kiba situation' had never been in his control to begin with- and Shikaku contemplated that Kakashi was just now noticing this. If he was smart enough, he may even be piecing together why Shikaku had offered such a bet.

The only reason Shikaku had offered it was because he had known he would win. Kiba's duty to his Clan had kept him from admitting he wanted to go with Kakashi.

He had never run a risk with this wager.

As Shikaku walked towards his desk, Kakashi remained quiet in thought. Once the man sat down, though, the younger cleared his throat and spoke up.

"A deal's a deal. What is it that you want to know about the Inuzuka Clan?"

He was speaking through a tense and tight jaw. His whole body spoke of being uncomfortable and displeased. Yet he was willing to put up with listening to Shikaku.

The Hatake _were_ known for their unshaking belief in honor... Honestly, Shikaku should not have been taken aback by this development. Even though Kakashi was the last of his clan and didn't have anyone looking over him to _make_ him worry over acting as was appropriate for his clan, it only made sense that he kept their traditions alive in his own way.

"You're willing to talk right now? Wouldn't you rather take some time to gather yourself? I have no rush, you see."

Kakashi seemed to sneer at him from behind the mask. Shikaku turned a blind eye to the expression and instead made a show of looking over the new papers in his inbox to allow the Hatake a chance to collect himself.

A handful of seconds later, he heard the softest sigh from the younger male- such a quiet noise that he was barely ever able to hear it.

"No rush, huh?" When he glanced up at the him, Shikaku found Kakashi frowning down at the floor. "Then give me some time. I don't know exactly what it is you want on the Inuzuka, but I might as well get some things prepared for you. They're confusing, even for me."

It was interesting to hear this from the usually well-put together man, but Shikaku didn't see a reason as to why he would want to hold Kakashi in his office for any longer now. Not only had he been hit with news he hadn't been expecting when Shikaku 'confessed' to him, but now he had undoubtedly been wounded by hearing that Kiba would rather go on an assassination mission with a Nara than him.

"Of course. Just send me a message when you're ready to talk." Shikaku smiled softly at the man, then offered, "If you're not available before Friday, then you'll have some two weeks to prepare. The mission we'll be going on isn't supposed to take longer than a week."

Kakashi nodded and turned around, making his way out of Shikaku's office without saying another word.

With a small sigh, Shikaku couldn't help himself from feeling smug over his recent victory. Normally, he wouldn't care enough about something to actually feel cocky- he was always so confident in his abilities that he didn't consider many to be able to challenge him and, in his mind, that just wasn't a good reason to feel victorious. But the Hatake was a worthy adversary. And he had fallen right into Shikaku's trap.

With a small smirk playing at his lips, the Nara leaned back onto his chair and crossed his arms.

Kakashi was a worrying independent variable in the equation called his life. He had been the one person Kiba worried about the most when it came to uncovering the truth about their relationship. So, Shikaku himself had worried over him. But, for the moment, Shikaku had control of him. And he believed he had a right to pat himself on the back for the great job he had just done.

He would undoubtedly have to keep an eye on both him and Kiba, just to make sure that the truth about their lives wasn't figured out by the snooping man.

Right now, luckily, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief and relax a little.

… He deserved a small nap as his reward for all of his recent hard work.

* * *

Having spent time with Kotetsu had almost been enough to help him forget about how _weird_ Kakashi and Shikaku had acted.

Even though their lunch had been interrupted by the men, both males were able to spend some time horsing around- after Kiba had found out that Izumo and Kotetsu were supposed to be a thing. He had actually managed to ask a couple more questions about them together, but Kotetsu had been uncharacteristically tight-lipped about his relationship.

Quite frankly, Kiba couldn't blame him. From what he understood, Kotetsu's clan may have been a lot like the Inuzuka, but one distinguishing feature was that they weren't as open-minded about relationships. The Inuzuka proclaimed that one shouldn't care about someone's gender when it came to love. Love was love and the real thing that mattered was an emotional connection. Literally no other clan in the Village shared this point of view and some, like Sasuke's own clan, were still uptight enough to insist that those kinds of relationships were completely wrong.

The Hagane clan wasn't as strict on relationships as the Uchiha, but they were still very much on the conservative spectrum of things. Kiba couldn't really blame Kotetsu for being more secretive about his relationship with Izumo. Although he did find the guy to be an idiot because of all the worries he'd most probably created in Izumo's head with the way he acted around Kiba.

With a small shake of his head, Kiba pushed the door into Shikaku's office open. Kotetsu was an idiot, but he was a good friend. When they were together, Kiba didn't actually feel the need to _explain_ himself. Kotetsu just... _Helped_. They didn't talk about anything serious... But Kiba didn't feel ignored when they did this. He didn't feel _invisible_ , like he did when he was around his supposed friends.

Kotetsu Hagane was weird, essentially.

As soon as the door was open, he was met with the sight of Shikaku Nara asleep on his desk, arms functioning as a make-shift pillow beneath the head that was twisted to the side.

This made Kiba freeze momentarily.

He had been spending a lot of time with Shikaku recently. And he had known most of his life that Nara valued rest and relaxation over almost everything in the world. _And_ he had been around to see various of Shikamaru's impromptu naps in the Academy... But... He had never thought of the possibility of seeing Shikaku like _this_.

They'd wound up sleeping at Shikaku's office before. But that was mostly because _he_ fell asleep and Shikaku didn't wake him up- for some weird reason. They had spent a handful of nights in Shikaku's office, sleeping, because of this very reason. But Kiba had never seen the man asleep... Not like this.

And... Quite frankly... With only one side of his face visible, the unscarred one, and with his eye closed and mouth slightly ajar in bliss... Well...

Shikaku Nara was kind of handsome.

Had... Had he actually just that?

Feeling his face heating up because of such unbidden thoughts, Kiba decided to step out of the office and get some fresh air before he entertained any further traitorous thoughts.

Shikaku Nara and he were arranged to be married. But that was the extent of their relationship, there was _nothing more_.

… But there was, wasn't there?

Shikaku Nara was the only person that had been able to keep him _sane_ throughout this whole arranged marriage business. He was a kind man that asked for _nothing_ in return and kept Kiba's best interest at heart. He was a man that covered for Kiba when around his friends and even signed up for an out-of-village mission to give Kiba a reprieve from the stifling atmosphere within their home.

Shikaku Nara was a great man. Kiba would be a fool to try and deny this.

The Inuzuka let out a heavy sigh, all the while his shoulders slumped. He leaned against the wall beside the door to try and get a chance to ground himself, even though his thoughts were continuing to run rampant.

At one point, he had wanted to _despise_ Shikaku. But that was virtually impossible at this point, wasn't it? This man had a kind heart and- oddly enough for Kiba- a great personality. Because of his experience with Shikamaru, he would have expected Shikaku to be boring and tedious. But he was just the opposite!

He... Needed a break.

Before he left in search of _anything_ to distract him, Kiba shut the door into Shikaku's office as lightly as he could. If the man was taking a nap in the middle of the day, it meant that he really needed this break.

~/~

Having searched for a distraction from Shikaku had been a horrible mistake and now he wanted nothing more than to be in the safe haven that was the Nara's office.

"And I had the _strangest_ dream!" Ino gasped for the hundredth time, throwing her arms up into the air as she made a point of how strange her dream had been. "You were there, Chouji. But Shika wasn't! And Hinata _was_! And-" She rambled on but Kiba tried his best to tune her out.

He had run into Team 10 on his way out of Shikaku's office. They were heading towards the Village Gates, on their way out to visit Sunagakure as part of that diplomatic mission Ino had mentioned when they had been at Ichiraku's. When Kiba reached the front entrance of the office, he came across the team. And Shikamaru invited him to walk with them until they reached the gates.

It had, of course, been odd that Shikamaru had made such a request. But Kiba had no valid excuse to tell him no... And he had thought up of a valid excuse _after_ he had began to follow the trio.

Ino babbled for a bit longer as Chouji nodded patiently beside her. And Kiba couldn't help but wonder just how completely disconnected he was from his friends to find _all_ their conversations tedious and meaningless.

Before he could think too long or hard on the matter, Shikamaru cleared his throat. This made the Inuzuka crane his head to the side and notice that the Nara was walking a couple of steps behind his teammates and was now inviting him to join.

 _Odd._

But there was no real reason for Kiba to stay with the blonde harpy and the infuriatingly patient Akimichi. So the teen slowed his steps until he fell into Shikamaru's rhythm.

And he waited.

It took a couple of seconds, but eventually Shikamaru spoke up. "Thank you for dinner last night... And... Thanks for helping my dad out."

Even though his body continued moving in the direction of the Village Gates, Kiba's whole mind froze. When it thawed, it took him a while to process the fact that Shikamaru was _thanking_ him.

"N-not that I mind... But... Why?"

He was just a regular poet whenever Shikamaru came around, wasn't he?

Shikamaru had his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed in thought.

Had Shikaku ever done this before? Or was this a purely Shikamaru action?

"You lost clan members, Kiba. But I lost my mom and dad... Well... He lost a wife." Shikamaru eventually breathed out, turning his face to the side and away from Kiba's sight. "I left him alone after that. I was so focused on myself that I didn't stop to think about him... But you were, miraculously, _there_. And you've been helping him out for a while- and you may say that you're only helping with little things but you've done much more than just that."

With a final exhale, Shikamaru uncrossed his arms and placed one hand on his hip, while the other went up to scratch at his cheek. He then opened his eyes and looked Kiba directly in his own.

"So thank you, Kiba."

Once again, Kiba was left completely struck.

Shikamaru was... He was _thanking_ him.

"Alright, think it's time we head out. What'd you think, Shika?" Chouji questioned.

Kiba turned away from Shikamaru's intense gaze and found that they were already at the Village Gates. Kotetsu and Izumo were working and were currently greeting a family of farmers.

"You're right, Chouji." Shikamaru murmured to his friend, then looked at Kiba for one final time. "I mean it, Kiba. Thank you."

With this final iteration of the message, Shikamaru walked away from Kiba and towards his teammates. Once the three were together, they offered their personal variations of goodbye to the Inuzuka then began their journey to Sunagakure.

And Kiba was left there, by the Village Gates, completely stunned by Shikamaru's words.

* * *

When Kiba returned to the office, there were only two hours left of the regular laboring day and he seemed much too dazed to finish any work properly. Shikaku quirked an eyebrow at him in curiosity, all the while the teenager sat mutely on the couch, but he questioned nothing.

Having known Kiba for so long, he was more than sure of the best ways to get the boy talking. And not pushing him was at the very top of this list of successful strategies.

Shikaku busied himself with his work and organizing his office and life so everything was in order for the time he was set to leave the Village with Kiba. Even though the mission wasn't supposed to be overly complicated or long, he was still a seasoned shinobi that understood very well the levels of shit a plan could hit in no time. 'Better safe than sorry' was one of the few sayings he completely agreed and never argued with growing up.

Eventually, after Kiba had remained quiet for more than ten minutes, Shikaku cleared his throat and sought out his attention.

"I spoke with Kakashi. And my plan worked out perfectly."

Kiba's eyes focused on him after a couple of seconds, then he blinked, and asked, "Huh?"

Shikaku wanted to chuckle at how absolutely clueless the teenager was. But, because he knew this would just annoy him, the man instead raised his voice slightly and repeated what he had said. Kiba nodded dumbly, then asked, "Just what did you do? You two were so... _Weird_."

Kiba was being weird.

But Shikaku could understand why he and Kakashi appearing in the middle of his lunch with Kotetsu could be seen as weird as well.

"I 'confessed' my feelings to him." Shikaku began as he set down the papers he had been organizing so he could focus completely on Kiba. "He now believes that I am completely infatuated with you."

From the way Kiba's whole body went rigid and his eyes widened to an unimaginable size, Shikaku was able to see that he was well and truly shocked by the information. It seemed that this shock had managed to completely evaporate whatever had been bothering the teenager before.

"Wait, so... Kakashi thinks you like me?" The teenager whispered, as if terrified of saying too much too loudly. "Isn't that... Isn't that really bad for your job? Like, can't people use this against you?"

Shikaku crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back onto his office chair. "People were going to question my intentions and abuse of power as soon as they found out about our relationship. And, as you remember, the day we become an official couple is getting rather close."

"I know that!" The teen glowered at him, shooting up from the sofa to begin stalking from one side of the office to the other. "I had just thought... Well, I thought _I_ was going to be the one that was... You know... Supposed to... Y'know..."

Shikaku stared at Kiba as he paced for a handful of seconds before he sighed and stood up. Making his way towards the teenager, the man informed, "My reputation isn't going to be ruined by falling in love with someone so young, Kiba."

With many clans, it was much easier to have your reputation destroyed by the _gender_ of the person you loved, rather than their age. Mostly because many clans thought that chunin were legally adults, no matter the actual age. This promotion came with a level of maturity that meant 'adulthood' in the eyes of many. Even though Konoha was slowly working its way away from this way of thinking, it was still very much in place at the moment.

Luckily, seeing how his clan had begun to work on accepting many more people- including homosexuals- in the past two decades, him coming out with a male lover wouldn't be a huge scandal. It would be even less controversial when the Elders backed them up. And Kiba being an Inuzuka did away with having to worry about _two_ clans disapproving. And like the Elders had so proudly pointed out, the regular citizens were easily enraptured by _love_.

If they played their cards right, they would have to worry about virtually nothing coming in the way of their relationship... No matter how fake or forced it actually was.

Kiba frowned as Shikaku stopped in front of him. Luckily, the teen saw this as the action it was meant to be- Shikaku putting a stop to his incessant pacing.

"But... Why'd you tell Kakashi this?" With his eyebrows furrowed, the Inuzuka glared at the carpet below their feet. "You don't know him. He could use this against you."

With the way this kid was prone to being overdramatic, Shikaku decided that it would be in _their_ best interest that he didn't mention the bet he had made with Kakashi to find out information on his clan. Instead, he smiled softly and shrugged nonchalantly.

"This was a classic diversion tactic. You think Kakashi's the most dangerous person in the Village- the person most likely to find out about our relationship's reality. By giving him so much trust, he's been thrown for a loop. He won't keep his guard near me. And he'll be too focused on the fact that I'm interested in you to dig up anything else."

After he had said this, Kiba let out a much too loud gasp to have been from just finding out about Shikaku's plan.

"Dammit, like father like son!" He punched his left palm with this growl, then frowned up at Shikaku. "What's up with you Nara and your manipulation techniques? Is it hereditary or do you teach in schools or something?"

Shikaku blinked down at him, completely flabbergasted.

Then Kiba filled him in on the fact that Shikamaru had thanked him for being around his father and helping him in his time of need. The teen filled him in on the way that Shikamaru had seemed so genuine and honest when he had spoken and the way Kiba had been completely blindsided by such words.

"He said all that to get my guard down!" The teenager stomped one foot onto the carpeted floor before point an accusatory finger at the Nara, "You guys are both horrible. What's up with you manipulating the people around you? Are you just... _like_ this? Or do you do it for the laughs?"

Shikaku would have agreed with Kiba on their tactics being misused if they were employed on allies... Had he not been secretly proud of the fact that his son was very much in tune with his Nara heritage. He had certainly never taught Shikamaru such a skill. Yoshino had not wanted Shikamaru to be even more _Nara_ than he already had been, after all.

Although, he was then somewhat disappointed in the fact that Kiba had managed to figure out Shikamaru's plans... _Even though_ , oddly enough, the Nara found that he was also mildly impressed by the fact that Kiba was able to connect the dots so quickly- albeit with a bit of help from Shikaku's explanations.

..~..~..

Thank you very much for all your reviews! They are lifeblood and make my days so much better.

I am very sorry for taking so long to update this story, but getting a muse in the middle of a hellish semester isn't easy. Luckily enough, I know where I want to go with this story for at least two more chapters! So, hopefully, the next update won't take months!

Please review and tell me what you thought about this update!


	20. Chapter 20

Warnings: Arranged (hence _forced_ ) marriage between a sixteen year old and a thirty six year old. Language. Angst. Feelings of betrayal. _Huge_ rare pairing. Power dynamics. Strong language (because it's one of my stories, come on, I'm like Hidan sometimes). Nosy people. Inescapable Clan duties. Teenage angst. Oblivious friends that make everything a thousand times more difficult. And some more angst. Friends are kind of extreme jerks, really, and they don't even notice it. Did I, by any chance, say angst already? Mentions of alcohol and technically underage alcohol consumption. Assassinations- which means blood and violence.

~..~..~

Shikaku had not gone on a mission in quite some time. His job asked him to stay within the Village more often than not, and he preferred it that way. Mostly this was because he enjoyed what tended to be a slow pace of office work. But it was also because his job was one so integral to the running of the Village that he didn't know many that could accomplish it successfully. Getting out of Konohagakure wasn't something he did often anymore and he _still_ wasn't a big fan of walking or running long distances to go through with an assassination.

But going on this mission was the only way he could successfully brighten Kiba Inuzuka's uncharacteristic and rather worrying damp mood. So, even though he hated not being able to be as lazy as he could be within his home, he was willing to put up with actual work for a while.

The good news was that this was a straight-forward assassination that wouldn't require too much of their time to complete. The other bit of good news was that Shikaku's plan to make Kiba happy had gone off without a hitch within mere seconds of having crossed through the Village Gates. Seeing how he had no idea where the teenager currently was, Shikaku was very much sure that having left the Village was the right thing for the teenager. Luckily, from the whoops he would hear every now and then, he knew that the Inuzuka hadn't gotten lost as he had continued walking without him.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo!"

A dark blur flew over Shikaku's head, rushing around the tree canopies as the man calmly made his way down the forest's path. Behind that blur, one of pure white followed. And as a chorus to the human shouts of happiness, he could hear excited howling.

The Inuzuka were filled with boundless energy. Keeping them locked inside of a Village was just asking for them to revolt. Trying to keep Kiba inside of the Village just to make sure he behaved was so counterproductive, Shikaku did not understand how his own Elders could be so ignorant. This wasn't a matter of complex equations. It was a simple one of taking a source with potential for boundless energy generation and locking it up without anywhere to waste said energy- it would eventually erupt in a disastrous explosion if it wasn't allowed to release most of the excess energy.

"Remember we're going to have to start setting camp up in a couple of meters." Shikaku called out to the trees, sure that Kiba would hear him, even through all the noise he was making.

Their mission was an A-Rank because of the standing of the woman they were looking to assassinate. She was related to a Lord from the Land of Fire that had very close ties to the Fire Daimyo. So it was a mission that required more finesse and strategy than other tracking missions; for those usually consisted of hunting down missing-nin or enemy ninja.

From what Shikaku knew of the regular tracking missions the Inuzuka Clan went on, they regularly ended with an assassination. So Kiba must have had some preparation for this mission from his own clan's hand.

The woman was supposed to be traveling in a small caravan of servants and courtesans to reach the Land of Rivers. Their mission was to capture and silence her effectively, without allowing her companions to even suspect the involvement of ninja.

"Yeah, yeah! We'll stop running when we've run outta steam!"

The words were faint and carried with the wind, but Shikaku heard them clearly enough. And, really, he could not grow too annoyed with Kiba just about disrespecting him. He'd been locked up for so long that it was only right for him to run around for a while.

Of course, he'd been jumping like a man on drugs for a good five hours now, so Shikaku did not completely understand how he was still able to keep his pace up. But as long as he calmed down by the time they neared their target, he was alright.

A simple assassination didn't worry him. With Kiba's nose, they would be able to find their target in no time. And with a good enough strategy, he was sure they would be able to separate the woman from her people without making a show of it. If everything went as easily as Shikaku prognosticated it would, they would be returning to Konoha within a week.

With a soft sigh, Shikaku allowed himself to close his eyes for a while as he walked.

The mission wasn't the easiest one they could have gone on, but it was simple enough. Their target wasn't an idiot, but she wasn't a dangerous shinobi either. It would take some strategy, but Shikaku had not yet met a civilian that could even begin to challenge him. And, even though they had to end a life, Shikaku was sure that Kiba and he were prepared to deal with any kind of complications. He was sure they would be able to complete their objective without too much difficulty.

~/~

He should have known better than to wish something would go easy for him in his life.

"She's already inside of the town?" He asked Kiba, who was, in turn, looking down at Akamaru. "So quickly?"

Akamaru barked twice, growled softly, and Kiba frowned. "Yeah… Seems they moved up their time table…" Then he sighed, patted Akamaru's head, and turned to him, "What're we gonna do?"

Shikaku frowned at the assumption- it was the only one they could make, seeing how they had been told that the woman was supposed to have been camping in the forest tonight and reaching the town tomorrow- but still began to think about a way to complete their mission.

Yes, the woman being inside of a town would make things more complicated. That meant that there would be many more witnesses if something went wrong. Just like there were more people to complicate their reaching her than if they had managed to find her within the forest like they had planned.

If they had caught up to her within the outskirts of town, they would have been able to assassinate her quietly. The job of sneaking into the encampment of her caravan wouldn't have been the easiest, but it would have been straightforward. Putting guards or possible witnesses to sleep- or disposing of them if they became troublesome- would have been the only possible hiccup. And then they would have slipped into her tent, slit her throat, and left without leaving a single trace.

Their straightforward mission had become much more complicated now.

Taking a moment to contemplate, Shikaku closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

This woman was related to a Lord of high standing within the Daimyo's court. She had been marked for assassination, though, by the very Daimyo- which meant that he wanted a clean and efficient kill that wouldn't be traced back to him or Konoha. She was currently in the town of Midori no Mori, which resided in the outskirts of the Land of Fire, rather close to the Land of Rivers. There were three known Hidden Villages that all occupied lands nearby: Konohagakure, Sunagakure, and Amegakure.

Amegakure was most renown for their assassination skills. Their target was currently heading towards the Land of Rivers.

Infiltration and deception were tactics utilized by most Hidden Villages, if not all of them. Konohagakure had many genjutsu users that were known around the world for their deceptive ruses. But Suna and Ame both had their own genjutsu masters- albeit few and far between. All three Villages, much like the rest of the Hidden Villages, had their fair share of manipulation masters.

What better way to completely derail a possible investigation than to completely throw suspicion far away from the actual culprits?

Amegakure's assassination tactics were mostly standard and rather similar to Konoha's back-up plans: get close to the targets and strike. Under the Fourth Hokage, Konohagakure had shifted away from taking on too many public assassinations. Minato was, controversially, trying to shift Konoha away from subterfuge and manipulation and because of this, sending less ninja off on assassination missions. But that didn't mean he didn't take any.

Now that he thought about it, this woman must have been a danger for Minato to have decided to take on her case.

That didn't matter- they had a mission to complete and Shikaku believed he knew what needed to be done: The only characteristic that stood out about Amegakure's assassinations was that targets bodies were always moved as a form of disposal. Generally, Ame ninja moved a body between ten to thirty meters, in a rather sizeable radius, and deprived the body of any belongings that would make identification any easier.

"First we're going to have to change into civilian clothes." Shikaku finally informed the Inuzuka as he opened his eyes, "Shinobi stick out like sore thumbs in towns like these."

Now that he could see Kiba again, he was able to notice the look of pure exasperation with Shikaku. The Nara guessed that it must have been because the long amount of time spent in silence. Still, his partner- that's what was now, wasn't it? His partner on this mission- nodded, Akamaru pawed at his ears, and Shikaku narrowed his eyes as he noticed a rather large problem on the teen's face.

"Those Clan markings are dangerous." He found himself saying before he had thought of a way to say the very thing with some tact. Oh well. "Even though the Inuzuka Clan isn't well known on the outskirts of the Land of Fire, it is still known. And a kid with red fangs on his face would stand out in the minds of people."

The teen frowned at this, but offered, "Makeup?"

Momentarily, Shikaku was absolutely flabbergasted. He stared at the teenager, disbelieving as to what he had just heard. "You're not good at keeping up a henge?"

"Not at all." The kid huffed, "Kurenai Sensei may have been my teacher, but I've got zero ability for genjutsu. Trust me when I say that no amount of nagging is going to solve this specific issue."

Shikaku wanted to scold the kid and tell him that every single chunin should be able to at least keep up a simple genjutsu like the one that would have helped hide his Clan tattoos. But he stayed his tongue, promised himself to tell him this later, and simply nodded. "Makeup it is."

Where Kiba would find the makeup, Shikaku didn't ask. Instead, he just continued to explain what they would do. "We'll try and find a room inside of the same hotel the target will be staying in- she's supposed to be here for a week."

"So we've got until… Friday to get her?"

"Mm-hmm."

"We can do this."

Shikaku liked the surety in the kid's voice. It spoke of a level of maturity that was required to keep a level head even when missions went wrong. And he decided to keep his own doubts to himself, aware that the smallest complication could throw off even the most finely created of plans.

* * *

He hadn't told Shikaku, even though he knew he was being _stupid_ , but he always took primer, a color corrector, concealer, foundation, and a setting spray on missions he went on. Because Kurenai-sensei's knowledge in genjutsu had never stuck with him, Kiba had been forced to learn about makeup to make up for the fact that he couldn't conjure up a simple genjutsu to cover up the tattoos on his face. Within the Inuzuka, it wasn't a big deal because none of them were actually all that good with genjutsu. But with the rest of Konoha... Well, Kiba was more than aware about the fragile masculinity that reigned supreme.

Out of all the people he knew that weren't members of the Inuzuka clan, he _knew_ that Shikaku was the one person that wouldn't give a shit about him knowing how to use makeup. Shikaku didn't seem to give a crap about most things- he had a very relaxed way of looking at life, it seemed. But Kiba for some odd reason, feared that if he found out that he knew how utilize something that was considered only for women amongst many clans... He just didn't want Shikaku to look at him any differently.

Akamaru had gone off to do some reconnaissance and find them some clothes, leaving Shikaku and Kiba within the edges of the forest surrounding the town alone. Currently, Shikaku was dozing off against a tree, snoring ever so slightly. Kiba didn't bother him, mostly because he didn't want Shikaku to see him applying the makeup, but also because he knew how nice it felt to rest against a sturdy trunk and just _rest_.

There weren't many places he was a hundred percent comfortable- so there were lots of places that he couldn't properly fall asleep in. But the wild... as long as he was far away from concrete buildings and cushy amenities, he could fall asleep anywhere he fell. Shino could sometimes understand him, but Hinata was an heiress through and through, no matter how nice she was. She didn't understand just how he could be so at home in the middle of nowhere.

Hinata and Shino... he'd offered them hasty goodbyes before he had left with Shikaku. But he hadn't done much to give them an _actual_ goodbye. He felt bad for this, but his relationship with his teammates was still very much unsteady.

When he returned to Konoha, he was more than sure that he would be in for yet another uncomfortable conversation with the both of them.

With a small sigh, the Inuzuka checked his reflection in the portable mirror that Hana had bought him when he had reached genin- it was within the kind of case that could receive a large amount of hits without the mirror within shattering.

Hana...

No.

He wasn't going to think about her too.

"Well, that's as good as it's going to get." He clicked his tongue as he closed the mirror's case, returning all of the makeup he had utilized to his pack.

It was always a _weird_ thing to see his face without the glaring red fangs of his clan staring back at him. With the makeup covering them up, Kiba could very well pass for any regular teenage civilian without too much difficulty. Sure, his eyes were kind of unique, they weren't as out of place as the likes of the Hyuga's. And his feral nature was easily covered up with the right clothes and a good brushing of his hair.

Honestly, it freaked out him quite a bit how easy it was to cover up his whole identity.

Akamaru returned a few minutes after Kiba had finished applying the makeup, a paper bag clutched tightly within his jaws. Kiba smiled at this, telling his dog that he'd need to show them the shop owner that had actually helped the dog pick out clothes, then pulled out the items that were for him.

This tactic of sending Akamaru into a town with a letter filled with petitions and/or money was one that Shino had come up with when they had been genin. They had been stuck on a boring mission where they had to protect this really annoying prick that didn't know when to shut up. Kurenai-sensei had forbidden them from leaving their contractor's side, but they had all wanted to buy some candy. The town they had been stuck in was known for great candy, after all. So Shino had written down a series of instructions, attached the amount of ryo he had estimated would more than cover what they wanted, and they had sent off a pint-sized Akamaru into the world.

That had been so successful that not one boring mission passed without doing this.

… They hadn't gone on a mission in so long that this felt extremely bittersweet.

 _And_ their first mission in forever was an assassination with Shikaku Nara as their team leader. Their lives had gotten _so_ messed up recently.

Still, Kiba took advantage of the fact that Shikaku was still very much asleep and undressed right there. Even though he had learned with Hinata that he wasn't supposed to get dressed out in the open, he _still_ didn't understand the reason _why_. He didn't do it around her because she would get red faced and extremely uncomfortable. But seeing how Shikaku was completely asleep, there shouldn't be any big issues.

The clothes Akamaru had gotten for them were perfect- the blue long sleeved shirt he now wore was fitted comfortably, but wasn't tight enough to show off the muscles he had formed over years of physical training. And the white pants were of a comfortable and breezy fabric- too flimsy for a ninja to properly conceal any weapons within. He wouldn't be changing his sandals, though, because that would have been too difficult for Akamaru to buy alone.

When he had finished getting dressed, Kiba undid the knot on his headband with a small sigh. He never liked taking it off if he was outside of Konoha. He felt _naked_ without it... Still, he jammed all of the items he had replaced with more civilian-like clothes into his pack, then picked up his hairbrush and began to run it backwards over his hair. In a way, he was kind of going for a Sasuke-like look, but his hair was too short and not retarded enough to form a duck butt, so that was something.

As he was brushing his hair, he heard Shikaku rummaging through the bag Akamaru had brought. And when he finished doing his hair, he turned around to face the older man... only to promptly have his brain short circuit.

Shikaku Nara... certainly had a nice body.

Lots of scars though.

 _His muscles were so marked_.

And that one scar grazed his hip- _oh no_.

~/~

After the moment of shock over how... well... _hot_ Shikaku's body was, Kiba was able to calm himself down. It was only obvious that a successful ninja like Shikaku Nara had a body to match his record. Hell, Kiba was a hundred percent sure that _all_ of his male friends had incredibly toned and attractive bodies. Within their line of work, they _needed_ to be at their physical peaks.

Seeing that Shikaku Nara had actual muscle and tone to his body had been a surprise (and a welcome on at that) but it really didn't mean much. Besides, the fact that Shikaku had felt comfortable enough to change clothes with him around spoke to a high level of trust between them. If anything... Kiba actually felt much more _relaxed_ now than he had felt before.

"There she is." He informed his teammates as they walked in through the front door of the hotel their target was staying within.

He had a mission to complete. Any annoying emotions could be squashed and forgotten for now. At the moment, he needed to prove to Shikaku that it hadn't been a bad idea to take him on his first assassination mission just to get him out of the village. He needed to excel because he had to show Shikaku that his sacrifice had not been for nothing.

The woman's

"Good." Shikaku nodded subtly, then took a step closer to Kiba's side. "Are you alright with this cover story? If not, we can come up with-"

Kiba _didn't really like_ their cover story... But... He might as well get used to it.

"You're stuck with me now, Shishi. You married me even after all the warnings _my_ family gave you. There's no getting out of this now." Kiba forced himself to put on a large smile on his lips, then wrapped his arm around Shikaku's waist and finished pulling him into a side-embrace.

Apparently, during the time Shikaku had spent snoring and seemingly slumbering, his mind had come up with a plausible cover story for the disguises. Shishi and Kinta came from a small town of farmers and had recently married. The farmer bit explained why Akamaru was such a large dog. And the married part apparently gave them an in with the woman.

Kiba didn't understand just what in the world _that_ was supposed to mean, but Shikaku had seemed to know what he was talking about. So... They were now playing the roles of a recently married couple to be able to get close to their target.

For a moment, he felt Shikaku tense up beside him. But soon enough the man relaxed and moved his arm behind Kiba, so that his hand was placed against the small of the Inuzuka's back.

(Kiba would be a liar if he said that no jolt ran up his body at this contact. So he just decided to ignore it.)

From the way they were dressed, he knew that they wouldn't draw up any suspicion. Shikaku's large cloak covered up his shoulders, all the way to just below his hips, and the genjutsu he had cast left him without any scars. Together, they looked like completely ordinary individuals- nothing truly stood out about them. And this would work in their favor when the time came to leave the town without getting spotted.

"Well, Kinta, at least you make good company." Shikaku remarked as a soft smile made its way onto his lips, letting Kiba know that it was time to get the show on the road.

Their target was currently at the front desk, seemingly arguing with the employee manning the desk. Kiba pursed his lips at the sight, but soon shook his head and reminded himself that he needed to get his head in the game.

She was accustomed to being around money- the first step to gaining any form of trust from her would lie in getting her to believe they also had money.

So, Kiba did what he assumed any bratty young adult with too much money on his hands would do- he dragged Shikaku straight to the front desk, bumped their target away with his hips, and smiled at the employee.

Shikaku, admittedly, took this all in strides.

"A room for two. The dog is with us." He cleared his throat afterwards, not bothering to look at their target as he offered, "I apologize for my husband's antics."

There was a moment of stunned silence, then their target growled, "Excuse me! I was-"

Kiba turned to the woman with a tight smile, "You were taking too long, hun. Now, why don't you pet the puppy while the adults speak?"

There was a flash of anger in the woman's bright green eyes as he said this. But then Akamaru barked to get her attention, his tail wagging at an incredible speed, and she was soon distracted by the dog.

Dogs, Kiba was aware, were one of the most cuddly creatures on the planet. And there were very few women that were invulnerable to their charms.

* * *

"I swear, if we've got to kiss on this goddamn mission, I'm killing a bitch."

Shikaku truly was amused by the kid's growl, although he kept his gaze on the retreating form of their target.

Quite frankly, the whole situation was rather troublesome. Shikaku could understand why Kiba didn't enjoy all the excitement their target held for them because they had presented themselves as a homosexual couple. But they were still on a mission- and Kiba needed to keep that in mind.

"Calm down, kid. Our life isn't some romantic story."

"Have you even been paying attention to the last couple of weeks of your life, Nara?" Kiba hissed back, although he kept his voice quiet enough to keep from being overheard.

They had managed to befriend their target over the few days they had stayed in the same hotel as her. The woman believed they were a couple honeymooning together. And she was more than happy to hang around with a gay couple, so they had been able to find ways to get close to her that would have been much more difficult if the woman had not found them together.

Shikaku would never understand just what the higher class's fascination with homosexuality was. But he guessed it must have had something to do with feeling superior to the rest of their compatriots. Civilians were weird to him- they had always been- and he refused to spend brain cells trying to understand them. Luckily, he had assumed correctly that this woman would not be the exception to what was an oddity within the noble classes.

With his arm thrown carelessly over the back of Kiba's chair, Shikaku couldn't help but think of how true the kid's words were. Recently, they both had been forced into quite a predicament… But, really, it wasn't as bad as any of those sappy romance novels Yoshino had loved to read in her free time.

"Just think about it this way: you're not being forced to dress as a woman, no one's asked used to kiss yet, and we effectively managed to avoid all sorts of awkward situations that might have wound up with us stuck in a small room together."

Kiba glared over at him and Shikaku heard Akamaru huff in what sounded like laughter.

Over the past three days, they had done their best to both follow and befriend their target. Kiba had taken the brunt of befriending the woman, seeing how she was closer to his age than Shikaku's. And the fact that she considered him 'Just adorable!' sure didn't hurt in Shikaku deciding on this particular course of action.

"Shut up. I would never dress up like a girl." Kiba growled down at his dog, to which the animal seemed to answer. The boy's face lit up in red and Shikaku knew that if Akamaru could have spoken their language, he would have been able to find out something the Inuzuka considered embarrassing. "Shut up, mutt! Or I won't buy you steak ever again!"

Akamaru whined softly, lowered his head to the ground, and Kiba smirked in triumph. Shikaku just chose to ignore their childish interaction so he could instead focus on their target's chakra signature.

Tonight would be the night they would act. It was the only night they could do so, really. She was heading up in her room at the moment- preparing herself to change into more appropriate clothes for a party she had invited them to go to. They were just waiting for Akamaru's signal so that Kiba could go up to her room, talk his way inside, and finish the job.

Shikaku would disguise himself as her for an hour or so, go to the party to make sure that people saw her there, and then he would disappear and return to Kiba so he could help him dispose of the body and all of her belongings. Much like Ame's signature, they would make sure to dump the body within a ten to thirty meters radius of the hotel- he had found a secluded abandoned warehouse yesterday and marked that as their dumping grounds. And afterwards, they would leave Midori no Mori and return to Konoha.

It was a simple and straightforward assassination.

"I can't believe she almost made us kiss…"

Kiba sounded like a normal, annoyed teenager in his whines and his lamentations. But, at the same time, he felt like there was something off about the kid. He wasn't able to really pinpoint why he felt like that. He just knew that something didn't feel right with Kiba today.

"You really have to let that go, kid." Shikaku sighed, only to receive a hiss as his only answer.

Shikaku frowned and turned his head to look at Kiba, then squeezed him slightly by the arm, "I'm serious. Clear your mind. You're about to finish our mission. You can't be angry; I don't need you messing up."

Kiba stiffened momentarily but soon nodded, "Yeah, I know."

Shikaku nodded at him, released his arm, and looked down at the dog that lay between his partner's feet.

"Anything?"

The dog huffed, but soon he raised his snout to the air and barked.

The signal.

Shikaku nodded and breathed out, retracting his arm from around the kid and stood up with a stretch. "I'll see you when you come back from the party, then, Kinta."

"Sure thing, Shishi." Kiba's smile wasn't as easy going as Shikaku would have liked it to be for appearances' sake, but it seemed genuine enough to not make anyone that wasn't scrutinizing them worry. "Don't party too hard, you hear?"

"Sure. I'm going to party hard in my sleep."

With this final, rather complacent exchange, Kiba and Shikaku parted ways so they could complete their half of the mission.

* * *

"Alright… I can do this… I can do this… _We_ can do this, right, boy?"

Akamaru barked and he sounded completely sure of himself.

Kiba wasn't feeling any of that surety within himself.

He should never have been the one to befriend their target. He knew so much about her life that he couldn't find it within himself to want to kill her.

 _'Did you know that Danzo took her brother? Did you know that, after her brother, he took her sister too? And her family just allowed it because Danzo was from Konoha and it was a great honor for their children to be taken by him. She hates Konoha because of Danzo.'_

He'd wanted to tell this to Shikaku as soon as he'd returned to their room after he'd finished his second day of befriending her.

 _'She's our mistake, Shikaku! She hates us and works with our enemies because we failed her! She's one of our mistakes and we're just supposed to shut her up? How is that any fair?!'_

The words had died in his mouth, though, when Shikaku had asked him to report on the day's happenings. The man had sounded so serious; so _professional_ ; that Kiba had found himself shrinking back into his place and answering like a child terrified of angering his teacher.

From this mission, he'd found out that Shikaku could, in fact, take things seriously. His only speed wasn't slow, either. He was mission oriented and his mind worked at an unbelievable speed to come up with all sorts of solutions whenever any kind of complication arose.

The target enjoyed leaving the hotel rather than staying inside? Visit her favorite spots.

She didn't want yet another companion that was after her money? Make her think you have money; tell her you only want a companion of fun for a while.

She wanted to party every night and force alcohol down his throat? No more than two drinks for you; more than five for her; get out any and all the information from her you can.

It was even kind of scary how cold Shikaku could become when he spoke about the woman and their course of action to finally silence her.

Kiba had no idea just what kind of secrets she'd been selling- the report hadn't covered any of that. Hell, the report had only offered her name, the information about her recent trip, and pictures to identify her. He had only found out that she'd been working with their enemies to try and bring Konoha down when _she_ had confided in _him_. Their orders had been to silence her. But there had been no explanation as to why.

And if what she had told Kinta was true, then Kiba fully understood why no explanation had been given. The Fire Daimyo wanted to silence yet another possible rebel- he wanted to keep complete control over the Land of Fire. It didn't matter if he would be hurting anyone close to him.

The Inuzuka shifted slightly as he stood in front of the door to her room, Akamaru softly nudging his leg to make him get a move on.

It was so hard, though. He couldn't imagine killing her. He knew too much about her. She was just human. This wasn't right.

Akamaru's uncharacteristically harsh bite to his leg had him shouting out in surprise rather than pain. He growled and scolded the dog- what in the world did he think he was doing? But before he could even wonder if he'd screamed out loud enough to be heard by anyone around him, he heard the locks of the room's door being unlatched.

The smiling face of Hiromi Oshiro sparkled with nothing but amusement. Her green eyes were delighted and shining, framed by enough eye shadow to make them pop even further from her pale skin, while her lips were a bright red.

"Just in time, Kinta! I need you to see my dresses so you can help me pick the best one!"

Before he could try and remind her once again that he wasn't some kind of stylist, Kiba found himself being pulled into the room and the door shut loudly behind him.

Akamaru sat himself down over by the only window within the room, ensuring that there was no form of escaping from that end. And from the glare the dog sent him, Kiba knew that he was supposed to lock the door up to make sure there was no way for Hiromi to escape.

With shaking hands, Kiba struggled to lock up once the woman turned to her bed to look at her dresses. But he managed to turn the lock before she had noticed what it was that he had been doing.

When the lock clicked, Kiba felt himself jump.

"Which one do you think is better, Kinta? The red?"

When Kiba turned to her, it was to find the red haired woman modeling off a red dress over her robes. It looked nice, really, but it was kind of hard to think of anything being beautiful when all he could truly think of was the thing he would have to do to complete this mission.

He should have told Shikaku he wasn't prepared for this. His nerves were on the fritz and he could barely concentrate. Why in the world had he thought that he could go through with an assassination? Why had he insisted on being able to do this?!

He was too anxious; _too obvious_. If Hiromi didn't tell something was off, it would be a true blessing.

"Or the green?"

The dress she brandished now was much shorter and had no sleeves. It wasn't as nice as the red one, Kiba found himself noting. And she deserved to look nice when she died.

Struggling to swallow, he offered a small smile, "Red."

The smile she sent his way was truly delighted.

 _'I was never able to meet my siblings. Meeting you is kind of like having my little brother here, you know… He had brown hair like you. He didn't have the luck to get the great red hair genes like me.'_

Shaking his head, Kiba forced himself to forget those words.

His mission was to kill this woman. She was his target and he had been ordered to terminate her. This was a harsh reality of shinobi life, but he couldn't change it. Not now. Ninja killed all the time; they were sent on assassinations and they were supposed to go through with the murders. This was just a milestone in his career as a shinobi of Konohagakure.

With a shaking hand, Kiba grabbed the ninja wire he had hidden within the large sleeve of his kimono-styled shirt.

Quietly, he walked towards the red haired woman.

She was chattering about how much fun they would have at the party. She was excited that she would finally be able to spend time with someone that wasn't looking for her money or for her father to do them a favor. She was eager to finally be able to dance with a man that wasn't trying to take her to bed because he already had someone he loved and didn't need to use her.

She was happy she was finally not being used for anyone else's personal gain.

His hands trembled and the wire felt like it weighed a ton.

The woman shed her robes without a second thought- she already trusted him enough to feel like he would never take advantage of her body.

How could she trust him so much so soon?

She pulled on her dress and talked about the drinks they would order as soon as they entered the party. She was in the mood for something light tonight, she felt like _remembering_ the fun they would have together.

Kiba forced himself to forget everything he had learned about her.

This woman was an enemy of Konoha. This woman wanted to see the Hidden Village brought to its knees; she had told him so herself... This woman had been forced into silence because Konoha had not been able to deal with one of their greatest mistakes on time... This woman had been sentenced to death because of the Fire Daimyo's need to exert control.

"What do you think, Kinta? … Kinta?"

She had turned to him.

The ninja wire was gripped in both of his hands, taut and prepared to wrap around her slender, pale neck.

Kiba's eyes widened the moment her's did.

He panicked.

..~..~..

I know it's been months since I last updated, and I'm very sorry about that! But for some reason this chapter was incredibly hard to write. I'm also sorry for the cliffhanger, but this chapter was getting _long_.

Hope you all enjoyed this! Please review!


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